The fires continued to blaze Thursday in the remote Owens Valley in eastern California, but fire officials said so far they had prevented any small communities from being damaged.

According to California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the airport fire has burned more than 2.500 acres, and has threatened approximately 150 buildings.

The February 17 wildfire that erupted near Bishop, Calif., and sparked evacuations on Wednesday afternoon had spread to 2.800 acres and didn’t get containment until Thursday morning, Cal Fire said.

The blaze broke out Wednesday near Eastern Sierra Regional Airport outside the city of Bishop and was propelled by winds southward into the town of Big Pine, where evacuations were ordered for the community’s east side.

The Owens Valley Radio Observatory and White Mountain Research Center belonged to the protected facilities.

More than 430 emergency service staff, 66 engines, six air tankers and a helicopter have been mobilised to the fire, which is still being investigated.

Bishop, a town of 3.800, is about 24 miles north of Big Pine, home to about 1.700 people in Inyo County.

Caltech said in a statement that employees on the ground reported an area around buildings had been set up and that the main threat to those structures had passed.




Owens Valley

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Owens Valley is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada, west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains, (wikipedia)


California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

The State of California’s agency responsible for fire protection in State Responsibility Areas of California totaling 31 million acres, as well as the administration of the state’s private (wikipedia)