Henry Coe fire spreads smoke across valley
As the sun rose Thursday morning, skies remained gray around
Santa Clara Valley as smoke continued to spread out from a blazing
wildfire at Henry Coe State Park.
Henry Coe fire spreads smoke across valley
As the sun rose Thursday morning, skies remained gray around Santa Clara Valley as smoke continued to spread out from a blazing wildfire at Henry Coe State Park.
A look at the foothills surrounding Gilroy and Hollister was reminescent of the smoggiest days in Southern California, with most of the hilltops obscured by the haze.
More than 1,300 firefighters set up camp at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy as a launching point to the Morgan Hill fire. Leavesley Avenue in Gilroy had a line of trucks heading toward Hwy. 101 north just before 8 a.m. Some fire teams fighting the blaze are from as far north as Napa County. A pack of California Department of Forestry trucks also headed north.
The fire started Sept. 3. Fire investigators have reported that a person burning something in a barrel in a private hunting camp just outside the park lost control of the flames and they spread into the nearby public forest. Campers and hikers were evacuated by rangers the day after the fire started.
As of Sept. 5, the fire was just 25 percent contained and had burned more than 10,000 acres.
Firefighters worked to contain a smattering of brush fires burning throughout the state amid hopes that cooler temperatures expected in the coming days would help them get a handle on the blazes.
A fire near Paicines had been contained just a day before the Henry Coe blaze started up.
The fire was started by lightning during a storm and burned 486 acres in South County.
Other wildfires are burning in Southern California, including a fire in Angeles National Forest that was 32 percent contained by Sept. 5. Another blaze continues to burn in the Lancaster area.
Firefighters contained a fire that burned 85 acres in San Bernadino National Forest Sept. 4.
