Crews mopping up grassfire near Coalinga after burning over 3,500 acres

FRESNO COUNTY (KFSN) -- Crews are making quick work of a grass fire that has burned more than 3,000 acres in the foothills of Fresno County, close to Coalinga.

The Jayne Fire broke out Thursday, and, after an overnight fight, fire crews from around the region have been working to mop up hot spots Friday.

In total, it has burned 3,500 acres where cattle graze. The fire broke out just before 4 p.m. on Thursday in the rolling foothills southeast of Coalinga.

CAL FIRE Batt. Chief Chris Christopherson says there were some challenges that hampered the firefight, to begin with.

"We had winds here at the fire anywhere from 15 to 30 miles an hour, so that really spread the fire early on before we could get adequate resources in here," he explained.

Despite the fact that CAL FIRE has not yet reached full staffing for fire season, Christopherson says they did get the resources they needed Thursday night - including tankers that flew from the Porterville Air Attack Base and firefighters from surrounding counties and cities.

"It's the combined resources of having bulldozers on the ground, having the air tankers in the air and then the firefighters coming up in the end to kind of tie those lines all together to strengthen to make sure everything holds," Christopherson said.

CAL FIRE remains confident they will stop the fire from spreading and expect full containment by Friday night. The cause has yet to be determined, but Christopherson says with this year's record rain, there has been a record amount of grass throughout Fresno County.

"Usually five to six times the grass that we typically have here, and now with the winds and with the warm temperatures we've had, now things are really burning," he said.

He says even though this area received a third of an inch of rain a few days ago, that had no impact on this fire's activity - adding that it only takes a little bit of wind for areas like this to dry out and burn quickly.

There have been no injuries or structures damaged. CAL FIRE officials also want to remind the public to be prepared for wildfire season.

CAL FIRE says we may be complacent because we've had a nice wet winter, but they still want homeowners to create that defensible space around our homes.