A wildfire burning near Pleasanton in California's Bay Area has grown to about 950 acres, and crews say it remains at zero percent containment. The fire has been moving through hilly terrain on the edge of the community, and much of the concern has centered on a neighborhood sitting directly in its path.
The Ruby Hill neighborhood has been fully evacuated as the blaze burns nearby. Alameda County sheriff's deputies are in charge of the evacuation orders and have been going door to door, asking anyone who has not yet left to get out. Along Vineyard Avenue, a line of cars formed as residents cleared the area.
Firefighting aircraft have been a central part of the response. Cal Fire helicopters have been dropping water on the flames, while fixed-wing tankers have flown over the neighborhood laying down retardant to reinforce the fire lines. On the ground, several heavy dozers were brought in to help carve and strengthen those lines around the homes.
Crews have been staging along the narrow drives that run up into the hills, positioning themselves to protect houses in the community. Officials said they were feeling relatively confident about the back side of the fire, closer to where it started, but remained focused on stopping it from pushing toward the neighborhood.
The weather has made the job harder. It was an extremely hot afternoon in the eastern part of the Bay Area, with temperatures climbing into the mid 90s. Humidity was higher than the single digits often seen in the region during summer, but the heat still added to the strain on crews working the flames.
The vegetation in the area was primed to burn. A heat wave last week pushed temperatures into the triple digits, and the fine grasses and brush have dried out sharply over just the past few weeks. That combination of heat and dry fuel is exactly what allows a fire like this to spread once it takes hold.
For the moment, forecasters said the winds were relatively light and appeared to be cooperating, and officials described the rate of spread as moderate. Even so, crews stressed that in such hot, dry conditions it does not take much to move a fire, and they were not taking any chances as the firefight continued into the evening.