Basin wildfire grows in Sierra foothills near Fresno

Lina Portman2 days ago

0 1 minute read

The Basin wildfire is now the fourth largest of the season in California, continuing to burn in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Fresno.

The fire, which started on June 26, covered 11,047 acres (17.2 square miles) as of Sunday morning, June 30, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

The mandatory evacuation zone covered 135 square miles in the Sierra National Forest.

Ten miles (16 km) to the southwest, the merged Bolt and Flash fires were more than half contained, and that evacuation zone was downgraded to a warning Saturday. The fire area spanned 10,375 acres (16.2 square miles), by far the largest portion of the Fresno June Lightning Complex.

The map above shows the approximate fire perimeters as a black line and the mandatory evacuation zone in red. For more details on evacuations, including areas under alert, see the Fresno County emergency map.

An evacuation shelter has been set up at Reedley College (995 N. Reed Ave., Reedley). Small pets were accepted at the Reedley site; large animals can be taken to the Fresno Fairgrounds (1121 S. Chance Ave.).

The largest wildfires of the season so far — Sites (19,195 acres) and Post (15,563) — were contained last week. The third largest is Corral, which burned 14,168 acres in San Joaquin County during the first week of June.

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