Updated: 6:51 a.m. May 14

First discovered: 42 hours ago, 12:29 p.m. May 12

Initial location: Valley near Energy Place and Highway 58, San Luis Obispo County, Calif.

Fire unit: Cal Fire San Luis Obispo Unit

Fire type: Wildfire

Fire name: Energy Fire

Energy Fire initially started 12:29 p.m. May 12 in San Luis Obispo County.

Since its discovery 42 hours ago, it has burned 43 acres. By Wednesday morning, a fire crew of two has achieved full containment of the blaze. However, the cause is still 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

Firefighters have fully contained the Energy Fire, and there are no longer any threats to local Solar Panel infrastructure. Crews will check the fire periodically today to ensure there are no hot spots.

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