Gilroy fire extinguished, East Bay blazes continue to burn

Firefighters across the Bay Area are trying to get the upper hand as multiple fires cover the region.

In Gilroy, close to 7 acres burned and threatened the homes of many on Saturday.

As the fire moved quickly through the tinder brush neighbors said they were concerned. At one point, evacuations were ordered, according to officials.

“I’ve never seen fire that close. It was red and flames and a lot of smoke,” said Yolanda Betancourt of Gilroy.

For Anthony Maldonado, the situation made him jump in and help water down roofs.

“A tree went up in flames and we asked, ‘Wow. What do we do now?’ It was pretty hectic,” he said.

Meanwhile, firefighters are still working to put out two East Bay fires that broke out Friday.

The fires, one in Alameda County and the other in Contra Costa County, have collectively burned over 1,200 acres as of Saturday afternoon.

The Point Fire, near Highway 4 between Concord and Bay Point, off of Evora Road, has left many on cleaning up pink retardant that was dropped in neighborhoods as the fire closed in on their homes.

“I’m not overwhelmed anymore, but yesterday I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’.” said Cheryl Bradley of Bay Point.

Cal Fire reported the fire was 70% contained and crews were able to stop forward progress.

“It was a frantic moment, but you just have to stay calm watch how things play out and listen to the fireman law enforcement,” said Omar, who did not provide his last name/

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District and Cal Fire said crews will remain in the area, evacuation orders were downgraded to warnings and all homes were repopulated.

The Creek Fire, in rural Sunol, has engulfed about 734 acres as of 3 p.m.

According to Cal Fire, the fire, near Welch Creek Road and Calaveras Road, is 10% contained and structures remain threatened.

The department called in aircraft to help manage the blaze that started at 3:52 p.m. on Friday.

“There is no structure loss on the incident,” said Battalion Chief Cole Periera of Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit.

“We do have evacuation orders in place for residents on Welch Road and we do have an advisory pushed out about a mile from the incident.”

As the weather begins to cool, Chelsea Burkett, a public information officer for Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit, said it’s a hopeful sign.

“The weather conditions have definitely cooled off a little bit and that is very helpful for our firefighters,” Burkett said.