Grass Fire Growing Near Avocado Lake

5/20/2008 Fresno County, CA A spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says about 100 firefighters are dropping retardant, cutting lines and running bulldozers to contain the fire burning in the foothills east of the community of Piedra.

Local residents have not been given a mandatory evacuation order but officials say many have left on their own.

Twenty-mile-an-hour winds are driving the fire east toward a heavily sloped area, and crews have been dispatched to protect another 15 homes about a mile ahead of the main fire.