A firefighter was injured while battling the Cienega Fire near Hollister—seeking medical treatment for a knee ailment—while weather conditions have been helpful for crews continuing to fight the blaze southeast of Hollister, a Calfire spokesman said.
The wildfire was first reported Monday afternoon near Cienega and Limekiln roads. It grew to 600 acres but has not expanded beyond that size, with some help from weather conditions, confirmed Jonathan Pangburn, spokesman for the regional Calfire operation.
Pangburn confirmed the current figures associated with the fire remained at 60 percent containment of a 600-acre fire as of Thursday afternoon, but he expected the containment number to increase with an update from crews later in the day.
Those crews have been helped by the rainstorm overnight Wednesday, cooler conditions and increased relative humidity.
“The rain absolutely helped,” Pangburn said.
With lightning, though, Calfire is remaining precautious about the possibility of another fire while conducting overhead reconnaissance. Pangburn explained that sometimes such fires can smoulder for a little while until it gets warmer.
“We’ll be on the lookout for the next few days,” he said.
Pangburn confirmed there were 500 firefighters battling the blaze—including some from other areas such as the Tuolome/Calaveras unit and San Luis Obispo—but the number would drop Friday with better containment.
The firefighter with the knee injury was taken off the scene and received treatment from a doctor, Pangburn said.
