Firefighters extinguish 8-acre fire on Mt. Diablo
MT DIABLO – Firefighters battled a 8-acre vegetation fire on Mt. Diablo Thursday afternoon.
At around 3:35 pm Thursday, firefighters were dispatched to a report of a vegetation fire on Mt. Diablo, north of the Junction Campground.
State Parks Rangers were the first to the scene, they found a 50 yard x 75 yard fire and began fighting it with fire extinguishers while other State Parks staff began evacuating hiking trails and the summit.
Within 10 minutes, the fire reportedly became too large to continue to fight with fire extinguishers, so Rangers focused on defending the main road to the summit.
Firefighters from CAL Fire and San Ramon Valley Fire worked to protect multiple radio towers at the top of the mountain. At least 6 CAL Fire aircraft helped fight the fire near the summit.
At 5:15 pm, firefighters had stopped forward progress of the fire at 8 acres.
According to California State Parks officials, the fire was 7.4 acres and began at the Muir picnic area, but the cause is still under investigation. The park returned to normal operation Friday.
Aerial video from Sky7HD:
#MtDiablo – Firefighters responding to a report of a vegetation fire on the mountain with a moderate rate of spread toward Juniper Campground
— Danville/SR Updates (@DanvilleSR_News) August 23, 2018
