Updated: 9:19 p.m. April 25

First discovered: 23 hours ago, 10:12 p.m. April 24

Initial location: Church and Olive Street, Thermal, Riverside County, Calif.

Fire unit: Cal Fire Riverside Unit

Fire type: Wildfire

Fire name: Church Fire

Church Fire initially started 10:12 p.m. April 24 in Riverside County.

After being active for 23 hours, it has burned 50 acres. As of Friday evening, the fire crew successfully encircled the entire perimeter of the fire in control lines. The cause of it remains under investigation.

Among other resources, an engine has also been assigned to fight the wildfire. According to Cal Fire, “Numerous firefighting air tankers from throughout the State are flying fire suppression missions as conditions allow.”

Cal Fire status update

Situation Summary

** UPDATE 04/25 6:30 PM ** The fire is 100% contained. Smoke may be visible from the interior of the fire, and fire engines will remain in patrol status for the next few days checking containment lines.

The fire remains at 50 acres and is 60% contained. Firefighters made excellent progress throughout the night, battling various hot spots. Crew will remain in the area working diligently to contain the fire.

Fire containment

What does 100% containment mean?

Note that full containment doesn’t mean the fire is completely out. In this case, it means that the whole perimeter of the wildfire has been surrounded by a control line and it is now stopped from spreading. A fully contained wildfire may continue to burn within the containment perimeter but is not likely to spread.

However, there’s a significant difference between containing and controlling a wildfire. After the fire is fully contained, the next step is to control it. Controlling a fire means ensuring that the fire can’t spread or cross the containment line.

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