Smoke plume result of work on Wolf Creek fire

A plume of smoke rose up from the Wolf Creek fire south of Markleeville as firefighters burned 80 acres inside the blaze.

Fire spokesman Dave Zaski said the interior burn was part of the primary objective of keeping the fire out of Wolf Creek Campground located on its southern front.

"So far, so good," he said. "We're close to stopping the fire from coming into the campground."

He said firefighters intend to keep a line on the southern side of the fire to keep it out of the campground and private property, but letting it burn into the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

"We're going to let the northwest flank of the fire burn naturally because we want it to clean out all the undergrowth and all the fuels that have gathered during the winter," he said.

The fire increased in size to 500 acres overnight, not including the 80 acres burned by firefighters on Friday.

A town hall for Markleeville residents is expected to be announced today.

In addition to nearly 200 firefighters, several helicopters are dropping water on the blaze. The helicopters are based at Indian Creek Airport, and Turtle Rock Park in Alpine County.

Zaski said because there are so many streams in the area, they are not using retardant.

The fire was set by a lightning strike, possibly during the July 25 thunderstorm and has been smoldering. A crew responded to a report of smoke in the vicinity on Tuesday night.