Updated: 8:14 p.m. Aug. 13

First discovered: 27 hours ago, 5:10 p.m. Aug. 12

Initial location: French Meadows Road/51 Road, 14 miles southwest of Truckee, Placer County, Calif.

Fire unit: Unified Command: USFS – Tahoe National Forest, Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit

Fire type: Wildfire

Fire name: Talbot Fire

Talbot Fire initially started at 5:10 p.m. Aug. 12 about French Meadows Road/51 Road, 14 miles southwest of Truckee in Placer County, California.

By Thursday evening, 75.2 acres of land had been burnt by it. As of Thursday evening, the fire crew managed to contain 15% of this wildfire. At present, there is no information available on the cause of the fire.

Fire containment

Interpreting what 15% containment means

Containment indicates what percentage of the fire perimeter has been surrounded by a control line. In this case, it means that 15% of the wildfire is contained from spreading, while 85% 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