Jerusalem Fire consumes 12000 acres, no report on containment

The Jerusalem Fire continued to burn out of control Tuesday morning, having burned 12,000 acres since it began late Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Rocky Fire is holding at 69,636 acres and is 88 percent contained.

The fire burning in the Jerusalem Valley in Lake County, dubbed the Jerusalem Fire and within mere miles from the Rocky fire, has consumed 6,000 acres, with zero containment reported to date, according to a Monday evening update from Cal Fire. Rocky destroyed 43 homes and 53 other structures, many near its starting point near Morgan Valley Road east of Lower Lake.

In an effort to contain at least a section of the fire, crews also have doubled to 1,122 firefighters and support staff. “Steep and rugged terrain is making it hard for firefighters to make access to various parts of the fire”.

Cal Fire said it expects to have the fire under containment by August. 14. Swindle said Tuesday’s temperatures should be somewhat cooler than average, which could help the effort.

Cal Fire’s Bryan King of the Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit relaxes as his strike team rests before cutting line at the top of the north side of the Jerusalem fire, Monday August. 10, 2015.

This video shows Cal Fire firefighters, stationed at the top of a ridge on Jerusalem Grade. A Mandatory evacuation is issued for the Jerusalem Valley area east of Spruce Grove. Through July 25, just over 29,000 acres had burned, compared to a 5-year annual average of close to 50,000. It is south of its larger neighbor, the nearly contained 70,000-acre Rocky fire, which a different set of fire crews are attempting to wrap up.

Strong winds are expected across much of the most northern counties, northeastern California and the Northern Sierra.