Coffee Pot Fire: 0% contained but almost halfway ‘corralled’

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – As the Coffee Pot Fire continues to grow , crews are working outside the box and according to Cal Fire, are making significant progress using an indirect strategy.

Per the California Interagency Incident Management Team (CIIMT), the Coffee Pot Fire was 2,683 acres and 0% contained as of Friday afternoon.

Fire officials say the containment level may be misleading considering that crews have corralled the fire through indirect control lines along the southern and western flanks of the fire. Indirect control lines are containment lines that are constructed from a greater distance away. CIIMT says they are using this strategy because it is too dangerous to directly insert firefighters given the rugged terrain.

Per officials, South Fork Drive Road will function as the containment line along the southern perimeter, with the south fork of the Kaweah River providing water sources. Indirect control lines have also been mostly established along the western flank of the fire. The east fork of the Kaweah River will serve as containment to the north. Three wildland modules will be flying to Cahoon Meadow on Friday to build containment lines along the eastern flank.

Officials say while they likely will not be able to prevent the fire from spreading into the sequoia groves to the north, crews are working to reduce the fuel load around the trees, which may actually be beneficial to the trees .

The only other grove currently under threat is Eden Grove which is situated northeast of the fire. Officials say due to the direction and speed of the fire, this grove was under significant threat; however, helitack crews were able to conduct a plastic spear dispenser (PSD) operation to prevent the fire from running into the grove. A PSD operation consists of throwing tiny ping-pong balls that catch fire as they fall from a helicopter with the purpose of creating a controlled burn.

Closures :

According to Cal Fire, the portion of South Fork Drive in Sequoia National Park and trails accessed from the road, including the Lady Bug and Garfield Grove Trails are closed. Case Mountain Extensive Recreation Management Area is also closed.

Evacuation warnings:

Zones TLC-E128-B and TLC-E094-B, the area north of South Fork Drive, East of Skyline Drive (Salt Creek Fire Control Road), South of Mineral King Road, and West of the National Park Boundary are under evacuation warnings.

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