Creek Fire command center split up into 3 locations
The Clovis Veterans Memorial District building is serving both as an incident command center, and as Fresno County's Local Assistance Center.
CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- As crews work to gain the upper-hand on the single largest wildfire in state history, their operations are spreading out.
Sierra High School served as incident command since the Creek Fire sparked on September 4th. To accommodate social distancing measures, classrooms doubled as lodging and meeting rooms, each disinfected between use.
With schools hoping to ready campus for the potential to reopen, incident command has now split into three locations.
Cal Fire PIO Seth Brown says they're maintaining a small presence at Sierra High near the gym area, away from classrooms.
He adds, "At China Peak we are working on a lot of containment lines and they actually may even be doing defensive firing in the next few days; in the northeast portion that's burning in the wilderness."
Federal incident management teams are staged at the Clovis Veterans Memorial District. In addition to ordering more resources for the fire, daily briefings prepare firefighters for the long road ahead.
CA Incident Management Team 5 PIO, Mark Savage says, "We don't have a fast-moving fire any longer, but there's still a lot of work to be done with the red flag conditions."
The building also serves as Fresno County's Local Assistance Center.
Robert Diaz lost his Pine Ridge home and has yet to return to see what's left. He had only bought the home 9 weeks ago and was still in the process of insuring it.
He spent Friday at the Local Assistance Center and says, "They've been more than helpful. Red Cross has been outstanding in helping us right now and this center is a godsend."
Federal, state, and local resources are available to the Creek Fire victims, including utility assistance. Hours through this Sunday are 8 am to 7 pm. From Monday to Friday, it will be open 10 am to 6 pm.
