Updated: 6:02 p.m. July 20

First discovered: 49 hours ago, 4:47 p.m. July 18

Initial location: Miners Valley Road and Miners Valley Court, Pilot Hill, El Dorado County, Calif.

Fire unit: Cal Fire Amador-El Dorado Unit

Fire type: Wildfire

Fire name: Miners Fire

Miners Fire initially started 4:47 p.m. July 18 on Miners Valley Road and Miners Valley Court, Pilot Hill in El Dorado County, California.

As of Monday evening, 95.7 acres of land had been consumed by it. By Monday evening, the fire crew managed to contain 90% of the fire. At present, there is no information available on the cause of the fire.

Fire containment

This is what 90% containment means

Containment indicates what percentage of the fire perimeter has been surrounded by a control line. In this case, it means that 90% of the wildfire is halted from spreading, while 10% is still uncontrolled.

Containment is part of a larger plan for managing a wildfire. It is normally expressed as a percentage and it refers to how much of the fire perimeter has been surrounded/enclosed by a control line that firefighters create. The containment percentage indicates a certain level of control, but it doesn’t always correlate to safety level. Also, it’s important to note that containment doesn’t mean a fire is out.

How is containment measured?

The incident’s central command constantly receives progress reports from firefighters on the ground. As the fireline is constructed, inspected or reinforced, mappers record those details to adjust the containment percentage. The percentage tells the public how much of the fire perimeter is believed to not go beyond the control lines.

Source: Cal Fire