Soberanes Fire sees small snag, containment date unchanged

With an end in sight to the ongoing Soberanes Fire, one more snag had firefighters busy over the weekend.

A flare-up had firefighters being airlifted just northeast of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to fight new flames, an unexpected problem, but fortunately, not one that will delay the full containment date of the Soberanes Fire.

“We did have a little flare-up on the southwest side of the fire, 27 acres. We have currently crews on that, and we’re feeling really comfortable with that, especially with the low temperatures and high humidity,” said Victor Gutierrez, PIO for the Soberanes Fire.

Day 79 of the Soberanes Fire, just over 132,000 burned, leaving 57 homes destroyed, one fatality, and 12 injuries, but now 99% contained.

“The public needs to understand that just because the fire is contained doesn’t mean the fire is out. We have to wait for an eventful rain, a substantial amount of rainfall over the fire to actually call it controlled,” said Gutierrez.

The most expensive wildfire in U.S. history is expected to be contained by Saturday.

“As of today, the fire has cost $256 million,” said Gutierrez.

A quarter billion dollars to save a whole lot more.

“We’ve also saved about $6.8 billion in infrastructure, homes, structures, businesses, tourism, and stuff like that,” said Gutierrez.

And now, people can return to those homes that were saved.

“As of yesterday, 6 p.m., there are no more evacuation warnings. The only one being there in Arroyo Seco and that was lifted last night,” said Gutierrez.

Though there are still small pockets of vegetation that could burn within the containment line, the U.S. Forest Service says they’re still on track to have this fire fully contained by October 15, or possibly sooner.