Crews halt progress of Mt. Diablo State Park fire

More than 700 firefighters working overnight were able to stop the forward progress of a wildfire raging in Mt. Diablo State Park in Northern California, a state fire official said.

The blaze, called the Morgan fire, grew in size Monday, going from 1,500 acres to more than 3,700 acres, officials said. But taking advantage of cooler overnight temperatures Monday and early Tuesday, hand crews and two dozen bulldozers were able to reinforce and build out containment lines along the fire’s edge, increasing containment to 20%, Cal Fire spokesman Steve Kaufmann said.

The blaze was first reported shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday in steep, dry terrain that has fueled the rapid spread of other wildfires this year, most notably the Rim fire near Yosemite National Park.

The fire threatened Pacific Gas & Electric Co. electrical transmission lines as well as communications infrastructure on Mt. Diablo and historical buildings at the summit, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Kaufmann said he expected the 20% containment figure achieved overnight to increase after an early morning assessment of the blaze Tuesday.

Meanwhile, evacuations remained in place for Oak Hill Lane, Curry Canyon and Curry Point. Only a few residents had trickled in to a shelter set up at Clayton Community Library in Clayton on Monday, but the facility was ordered to remain open for two more nights, said Jim Mallory, a Red Cross spokesman at the site.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

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