100% Firefighters Battled "Sand Fire" Blaze South of Diamond Springs Thursday Evening

Sand Fire 100% Contained

The wildfire on Sandridge Road and Balmaceda Road in the Logtown area of El Dorado County is 100% contained at 23.8 acres.  Emergency crews will remain on scene and continue to strengthen the containment lines and put out hotspots within the burn throughout the day.  Firefighting crews will check on the area through the weekend.

At 3:54 pm yesterday the wildfire was reported and within minutes a large smoke column could be seen from the Placerville area.  The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department began contacting locals about voluntarily evacuating from Balmaceda Road area.  The California Highway Patrol quickly closed Sandridge Road between Highway 49 and Tripp Road to allow emergency equipment to move into the area.  The road was re-opened about 4 hours later.

CAL FIRE, El Dorado County Fire, El Dorado Hills Fire, Diamond Springs-El Dorado Fire, Rescue Fire, Sac Metro, Amador Fire Protection District and Ione Fire assisted in protecting the homes in the area from the fast moving wildfire.  Two homes were threatened and did not sustain any damage; one out building was damaged.

“A multi-agency and multi-county emergency response kept this fire from destroying multiple homes in the neighborhood.  There was a huge potential for this fire to do damage but emergency responders did exactly what they were trained to do and it all worked out very well for the residents of the Sandridge area” said Incident Commander Battalion Chief Dave Teter who added “it is really great to have such a professional response from both fire and law enforcement agencies”.

 KCRA Video

For more information on preparing to evacuate your family in the event of a wildfire or other disaster, check out CAL FIRE’s Ready-Set-Go program at www.readyforwildfire.org and FEMA’s website at www.ready.gov.  For tips on preparing disaster kits for your family pets and livestock, visit the Humane Society at www.humanesociety.org/issues/animal_rescue/tips/disaster_preparedness_pets