California State Parks spokesman Roy Stearns stated that a fire, which covered 375 acres of the Mount Diablo State Park on August 24, is “quite a ways away from roads and people.”
As of Wednesday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection announced that the fire was 80 percent under control. Although the temperature is scorching hot, low humidity and wind levels have prevented the fire from spreading further.
No property damage has been reported as the fire was centered around the Morgan Territorial Park Reserve and Curry Canyon Road area which is miles away from Clayton, the nearest metropolitan city. PG&E cut power to 57 rural residents to allow the 300 fire fighters to safely work around nearby power lines.
The fire has not affected the CSUEB Concord Campus although smoke could be seen as far away as Walnut Creek.
The Curry fire, as it is called, marks one of the first in Northern California of the 2010 California wildfire season. Overall there have been 82 wildfires in California, most of which were minimal. After a wet summer, officials are hoping that the numbers of fires will be contained to a minimum.
Although property damages are minimal, fires like these can be devastating to the local ecosystem. The fire has torn through native oak trees and open grasslands. The region has become a refuge for wild deer and mountain lions that have been boxed in by urban sprawl. Most troublesome is the fact that Mount Diablo is an important habitat for endangered Golden Eagles and California Condors.
With two injured firefighters and zero fatalities the coast of the fire is relatively low. Most importantly, possibly to the dismay of students, finals have not been cancelled at CSUEB Concord.