Tar Canyon wildfire fully contained

Hanford Sentinel:

Tar Canyon wildfire fully contained, crews exit

By Natalie Ragus nragus@HanfordSentinel.com

State fire officials said this morning that firefighters have completely controlled and contained a major fire in rural Kings County. A total of 1,340 firefighters, 77 engines, 20 bulldozers and six helicopters from around the state battled the fire, which consumed more than 5,600 acres.

Calfire spokesman David Brooks said Calfire officials have released all personnel from duty, and returned all equipment used to fight the blaze.

'The fire is done,' Brooks said simply. On Friday around 5:30 p.m., the fire broke out in Diablo Canyon about nine miles southwest of Avenal and then spread to Tar Canyon, and has been called the largest blaze in either Fresno or Kings county in several years.

A threatened power grid and an unconfirmed report of asbestos initially had firefighters and officials concerned.

A geologist found only two areas containing natural asbestos, which were near firefighting equipment, Calfire officials reported.

As a precaution, officials pulled 300 firefighters from the line, and had them decontaminated. But the asbestos was in rock, not dust form, and proved not likely a threat.

A Calfire spokesman said Wednesday firefighters quickly created fire lines around the power grid, which provides power throughout the San Joaquin Valley, and no residents reported a power outage.

State fire crews wlll now shift full focus back to battling the Zaca fire in Santa Barbara County. As of Wednesday, the blaze was 58 percent contained and had consumed more than 105,000 acres.