Two firefighters were injured and evacuation orders were issued as a wildfire spread to 12,500 acres in Northern California, officials said.
The Corral Fire is burning in San Joaquin County, close to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which is about 50 miles outside San Francisco, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“Areas west of the California Aqueduct, south of Corral Hollow Creek, west to Alameda County and south to Stanislaus County should leave now,” San Joaquin emergency officials said late Saturday.
Two firefighters have been injured in the blaze, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Josh Silveira said in an interview with Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV. One had minor injuries and the other had moderate injuries, he said, adding that both were expected to survive.
The fire ignited Saturday around 2:30 p.m. PT near Interstate 580 on the western edge of Tracy and quickly spread by midnight to about 11,047 acres, with about 13% contained, officials said.
Cal Fire Officials increased that figure Sunday morning, saying the fire had grown to 12,500 acres and that strong winds and dry grass “have made it difficult to contain.”
The blaze moved quickly through the tall dry grass in the area, Silveira said.
“With these winds, it was growing very quickly,” he said. “The fire was moving faster than we could post updates.”
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