Corral Fire explodes to 10,000 acres east of Livermore, evacuations underway
LIVERMORE, Calif. - A wind-whipped fire burned 10,000 acres Saturday after flames erupted east of Livermore and south of Tracy, according to the Alameda County Fire Department.
Dubbed the Corral Fire, the flames started around 2:30 p.m. on Corral Hollow before they jumped the road, ACFD said. By 7:45 p.m., the fire covered more than 4,940 acres, and was quickly growing as windy conditions made the flames difficult to contain.
As of 11p.m. the fire had spread to 10,000 acres and was 13% contained.
Evacuation orders are now in place for the area southwest of I-580 stretching from the Tracy Golf and Country Club to Corral Hollow Road. People in this area are asked to leave now.
Evacuation warnings are in place for those in Par State, just southeast of the Tracy Golf and Country Club, down through West Gaffery Road. Those in this area should be ready to leave if needed. For full evacuation details and maps, click here.
Interstate 580 from Corral Hollow Road to Interstate 5 was closed in both directions for much of Saturday evening. Crews were reporting smoke and zero visibility in the area.
Two firefighters suffered burn injuries on Saturday, according to ACFD.
One person was taken to a San Jose hospital via helicopter, and another person was taken to a local hospital. Units from CalFire, Alameda County Fire Department, Tracy Fire Department and Livermore/Pleasanton Fire have all responded.
Smoke from the fire could be seen for miles. To get a look at live conditions now, check out the ALERT Calfiornia live webcams.
Air quality in the area was also mpacted by the fire. As of 9:30 p.m. the air near the town of Patterson was considered ‘hazardous’ and a mask was reccommended.
Initial reports linked the cause of the fire to a controlled burn in the area, but ACFD tells KTVU that is not the case. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time. An evacuation center has been established inside the Larch Clover Community Center at 11157 W Larch Road in Tracy.
The fire was first reported not far from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
"There are no current threats to any Laboratory facilities and operations as the fire has moved away from the site. There was no on or offsite contamination. As a precaution, LLNL has activated their emergency operations center to monitor the situation through the weekend. More information will be provided as it becomes available," Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said in a statement to KTVU.
Thousands of customers reported losing power in Tracy. PG&E said there were two outages in the area starting around 7 p.m. affecting about 4,700 customers. Late Saturday night, only about 200 were still waiting for power to be restored. The cause of the two outages is under investigation and the estimated time of restoration unknown, according to PG&E.
This is a developing story.