East Fork firefighters heading to Northern California blazes

East Fork firefighters are northbound after they received requests for a strike team leader and two brush engines.

An East Fork battalion chief left Monday night for the China 2 Fire burning in the Klamath National Forest after a request from the California Office of Emergency Services.

“At the request of the National Geographic Area Coordination Center, the district sent a Type 3 and Type 6 brush engine from East Fork Fire Protection District for a staging assignment in Northern California,” East Fork Deputy Fire Chief of Operations Scott Gorgon said on Tuesday.

The big fire in the region is the McKinney Fire which has grown to more than 55,000 acres. The China 2 Fire has grown to nearly 2,000 acres.

Both fires remain uncontained and fire officials don’t expect to get a line around either until the end of August.

According to fire.airnow.gov, there is no indication that smoke from either fire has made its way to Carson Valley.

As of Tuesday morning, firefighters had a line three-quarters of the way around the 19,244-acre Oak Fire burning west of Yosemite.

The fire sent smoke north into Carson Valley not long after it was first reported on July 22. Both it and the Washburn Fire a dozen miles to the east are expected to be contained by Aug. 6.

The Washburn Fire is 97 percent contained at 4,886 acres.