Firefighters gain on blaze near Markleeville

By Kathryn Reed

More than 200 people continue to fight the Wolf Creek Fire, which is burning about 14 miles south of Markleeville.

The fire that was started by lightning had burned 580 acres as of 3:15pm today. The fire had smoldered for several days before firefighters began fighting the blaze on Aug. 3.

Smoke from the Wolf Creek Fire can be seen from miles away. Photo/Dave Zaski

“We are not really going to contain this fire. We are going to turn it over to the U.S. Forest Service,” said Dave Zaski, spokesman for Sierra Front. “We are going to let it cleanup the undercarriage of the forest.”

The fire is about a mile from Wolf Creek Campground in the Iceberg Wilderness in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. It is being kept off private property and out of the Wolf Creek drainage.

Eight hand crews are working the fire, along with a helicopter that is getting water from Wolf Creek.

Zaski said the fire was at 500 acres this morning.

“We did an 80-acre burn out operation where we are using the burnout to secure a part of the fire so it doesn’t get out of control. It was very successful today,” Zaski told Lake Tahoe News.

There are no definitive plans for how long the fire will be allowed to act as a prescribed burn or how many more acres will be treated in this manner.