Mt. Diablo fire spreads over 3,000 acres: 100 homes evacuated

Mt. Diablo fire: The wildfire has spread to 3,718 acres or nearly 6 square miles of the Mt. Diablo region, more than double the 1,500 acres reported in the morning, and is 20 percent contained.

|
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
A bomber drops retardant on a wildfire in Mount Diablo State Park on Monday, Sept. 9, 2013 in Contra Costa County, Calif.

A wildfire burning in a San Francisco Bay Area wilderness park grew Monday, forcing more people to leave their homes and leading to a smoke advisory for area residents.

The blaze in Mount Diablo State Park in Contra Costa County spread to 3,718 acres or nearly 6 square miles Monday afternoon, more than double the 1,500 acres reported in the morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It was 20 percent contained.

Officials said hot temperatures and wind gusts fueled the fire's spread.

The flames were threatening 100 homes in the sparsely populated area, which is dotted with animal pens and shooting ranges. The fire was also threatening electrical transmission lines, communications infrastructure, and a historic lookout and visitor center at the top of the 3,848-foot Mount Diablo. The Summit Museum was constructed in the 1930s of sandstone from the park.

The blaze broke out Sunday amid nearly triple-digit temperatures in the early afternoon. The cause was under investigation.

The fire spewed a plume of smoke visible for miles. It was burning in steep, rugged terrain near Clayton, a town of about 11,000 people northeast of San Francisco, alongside the park.

In addition to the difficult terrain, firefighters faced erratic winds and continued high temperatures. But they were confident they would get the blaze under control, Cal Fire spokesman David Shew said.

"We'll get it, but it will probably be a few days," he said.

More than 700 firefighters, aided by two air tankers and three water-dropping helicopters, were battling the blaze.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory Monday for parts of Contra Costa, Alameda and Santa Clara counties. Residents were advised to take precautions, including setting air conditioning units and car vent systems to recirculate.

Elderly people, children and those with respiratory illnesses were told to be particularly careful.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Mt. Diablo fire spreads over 3,000 acres: 100 homes evacuated
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0909/Mt.-Diablo-fire-spreads-over-3-000-acres-100-homes-evacuated
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe