A wildfire named Corral Fire broke out in San Joaquin County, California on Saturday, June 1, 2024. The fire had consumed over 11,000 acres by late Saturday night and was only 13% contained as of that time (CalFire). Two Alameda County firefighters were injured while responding to the Corral Fire. Residents in areas west of the California Aqueduct, south of Corral Hollow Creek, west to Alameda County and south to Stanislaus County were instructed to evacuate on Saturday (San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services). A temporary evacuation site was set up at Larch Clover Community Center for impacted residents. Two other areas, SJC211 and SJC215, also had evacuation orders issued. Eastbound and westbound I-580 was closed from the junction with Interstate 205 to Interstate 5 due to the fire, as was Highway 132 from its junction with I-580 to its junction with I-5. S. Tracy Boulevard, S. Manteca Drive, S. Chrisman Road and Bird Road were also closed (San Joaquin County). Strong southwest winds of 20-25 mph sustained with gusts reaching up to 45 mph until after midnight and into Sunday morning contributed to the spread of the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The Corral Fire started in the City of Tracy around 2:30 p.m., near Lawrence Livermore Lab Site 300, located southwest of Tracy (CNN). It quickly spread and jumped I-580 from Corral Hollow Road to S. Tracy Boulevard, burning towards the Granite Construction Vernalis Plant and Lane Tree Creek (CalFire). The fire also jumped I-580 south of South Tracy Boulevard, reaching Bird Road near the Granite Construction Vernalis Plant.
Two Alameda County firefighters were injured while responding to the Corral Fire. They had minor to moderate injuries and were transported to local hospitals for evaluation and treatment (Cal Fire Battalion Chief Josh Silveira).
Evacuation points are open at the Large Clover Community Center in Tracy for residents, and Manteca Unified School District Building for large animals respectively.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection recently suspended all residential outdoor burning of landscape debris such as branches and leaves in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and western San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties due to increasing fire danger posed by the hot, dry conditions in the region (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection).
The Corral Fire is one of over 1,200 wildfires that have been responded to across the state so far this year (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection).
