Coyote Fire chars south county wildland
Firefighters continue to work on the ground and in the air to contain the Coyote Fire, a wildland blaze burning in remote, steep terrain in the Omo Ranch area of southern El Dorado County.
The fire broke out at about 2:16 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20, ballooning from 30 acres to 400 acres in six hours.
“Three night helicopters continued water drops throughout the night,” shared Cal Fire public information officer Wendy Oaks.
As of Thursday morning, Cal Fire reported the fire had scorched 624 acres and was 5% contained.
“More than 1,250 personnel from multiple agencies are working the incident,” notes a Cal Fire update posted on social media. “Ground and air resources will continue to aggressively battle the fire throughout the day.”
“All of our local fire departments, El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, (Placerville) Police Department, PG&E and Sierra Pacific Industries are responding accordingly,” Oaks told the Mountain Democrat.
Evacuation warnings for residents who live on Omo Ranch Road south to Farnham Ridge Road were put in place around 5 p.m. Wednesday and remain in effect, according to Oaks.
The cause of the fire is under investigation and, Oaks said, investigators are still working to determine where the fire initially started.
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