Crozier Fire more than 50% contained as firefighters work to return communities to ‘normalcy’

Firefighters on Tuesday had more than half of the Crozier Fire contained as they continued mop-up operations to corral the wildfire that has been burning for a week northeast of Placerville in El Dorado County.

The Crozier Fire has burned 1,938 acres as of Tuesday morning, and firefighters had contained 52% of the wildfire as of Tuesday morning, according to Cal Fire. The size of the wildfire has not increased for the past few days.

Kyle Ferris, a fire behavior analyst with Cal Fire, said in a Tuesday morning briefing that the fire has remained within the containment lines with no expected growth. But he told firefighters working in the interior area of the Crozier Fire to be cautious of fire-weakened trees, ash pits and smoldering tree stumps.

The wildfire started northwest of Slate Mountain and grew to about 244 acres after the first few hours, before it nearly tripled its size by the following morning.

Nearly 1,600 firefighting personnel on Tuesday were assigned to encircle the Crozier Fire, but Cal Fire officials said that number will continue to get smaller as Crozier Fire containment increases and the state agency pulls away resources to tackle other wildfires throughout California. Cal Fire was in unified command with U.S. Forest Service officials from the Eldorado National Forest.

Cooler-than-normal temperatures and increased humidity allowed firefighters to gain additional containment of the blaze , according to a Tuesday morning situational summary from Cal Fire.The wildfire continued to smolder in steep, rugged terrain with abundant dry fuel.

Chris Baldoni, who leads night operations for Cal Fire, said firefighters continued patrols and mop-up overnight, “pushing the heat well into the interior” of the fire’s perimeter with “seek and destroy” operations along the containment lines.

Cal Fire expects better weather conditions Tuesday with maximum wind speeds reaching about 15 mph after the 20 mph gusts on Monday.

Firefighters on Tuesday were expected to continue to mop-up operations of hot spots within the fire perimeter, working from the edges toward the interior. Cal Fire said dozer operations are improving secondary and tertiary contingency containment lines, which will serve as breaks in any future fires.

Jeff Loveless, a Cal Fire operations sections chief, told firefighters on Tuesday not to lose sight of their goal to return “normalcy” to the El Dorado County communities impacted by the Crozier Fire. He said crews have to make sure the wildfire doesn’t spread, mainly on the north side of the blaze, by continuing to strengthen containment lines.

On Monday, residents in another area previously evacuated were allowed to return to their homes, according to Cal Fire. That area was in addition to areas where residents were allowed to return home Sunday.

An area where firefighting operations continued Tuesday remained under mandatory evacuation order, and an immediate surrounding area remained under an evacuation warning. Sheriff’s officials have asked residents to visit perimetermap.com to view the evacuation map . Residents can enter their address in the search bar to see the latest information.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office on Monday afternoon announced that a temporary evacuation shelter opened last week at the Cameron Park Community Services District is now closed. Sheriff’s officials also said the El Dorado County Animal Services Shelter is no longer accepting animals displaced by an evacuation order and asked anyone with an animal housed at the shelter to call 530-621-5795 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.