Updated: 8:40 p.m. May 16

First discovered: 5 hours ago, 2:52 p.m. May 16

Initial location: 44000 block of Gold Creek Lane, Aguanga, Riverside County, Calif.

Fire unit: Cal Fire Riverside Unit

Fire type: Wildfire

Fire name: Gold Fire

Gold Fire initially started today at 2:52 p.m. in Riverside County.

It has burned 10 acres after being active for five hours, an increase of five acres since the last update. By Friday evening, a crew of 138 firefighters has achieved full containment of the fire. However, investigations into the cause are ongoing.

16 engines four water tenderstwo helicopterstwo dozersand six hand crews have all been fighting the fire. 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

The fire has been successfully contained at 100% and is now fully under control. Updated mapping shows the fire reached 5.22 acres in total.

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 wildfire has been fully enclosed 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