The fire south of Tracy, not far from the family farm is twice the size of the fire in the Santa Cruz mountains. The Lt. Governor John Garamendi declared a state of emergency on Friday. Governor Arnold is back from Eunice Shriver's funeral in Massachusetts and is set to visit the fire zones today.
burning brush, and fire officials expect it to continue to spread
eastward and continue burning through Sunday.
A DC-10 air tanker
flew in from Sacramento this afternoon to try to control the fire,
which has traveled from the eastern edge of Alameda County Thursday
afternoon to around Bird Road today. The air tanker can dump up to
12,000 gallons of retardant on the fire, which is now only 20 percent
contained.
“The fire’s still open-ended, and it’s spreading, but
it’s not as aggressive as it could be,” said Tracy Fire Department
division chief Andy Kellogg.
The Corral Fire has reached more
than twice the size of the one licking up the Santa Cruz mountains this
week. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
dispatched four air tankers and two helicopters to dump water on the
swelling grassfire that blackened much of the 1,500-acre Carnegie State
Vehicular Recreation Area and the surrounding Altamont Hills.
At
least 350 firefighters from the state and Alameda and San Joaquin
counties have teamed up to battle the blaze. Earlier this afternoon,
the fire was about 20 percent contained, Alameda County Fire Department
spokeswoman Aisha Knowles said. The Tracy Fire Department estimated
about 35 to 40 percent was under control late this morning, but some
flare-ups has quickened the fire’s spread since then.