Crews Continue To Battle Knight Fire
Sonora, CA — Crews are continuing to battle the 1,332 acre Knight Fire in the Stanislaus River Canyon.
Overnight operations will see hand crew members on the lookout for spot fires. 24 hand crews are on site for the first major fire of the year in Tuolumne County.
While Wednesday marked Day Four of the fire there are still no containment percentages being issued. Pat Kaunert of the Stanislaus National Forest explains, "Think of the top of the fire as the Knight Ridge and the bottom of the fire as the river. Lines then have to be carved out on the west and east sides of the fire. Once that is done we will be able to quickly determine the exact percentage that has been contained. But I can tell you that this is a campaign fire meaning that it will last for an extended period of time … perhaps well into next week."
Tuesday evening the acreage burned was set at 650. Today it jumped to 1,332. Kaunert adds, "We have been able to get a more accurate assessment of the acreage with the use of infared technology aboard the Cobra helicopter."
Kaunert commented, "Again we want to remind Mother Lode residents that the only structures that could be in harm’s way are those at the Mt. Knight subdivision. No other communities need worry about this fire. Also it should be noted that smoke will continue to be emitted from this fire through the weekend and well into next week. The majority of the smoke is present in the morning and evening hours."
Click KNIGHT FIRE for a fire location map.
