Updated: 11:29 p.m. July 21

First discovered: 7 hours ago, 3:39 p.m. July 21

Initial location: Vallecitos Road and Little Valley Road, Sunol, Alameda County, Calif.

Fire unit: Unified Command: Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit and Alameda County Fire Department

Fire type: Wildfire

Fire name: Little Fire

Little Fire initially started today at 3:39 p.m. at Vallecitos Road and Little Valley Road, Sunol in Alameda County, California.

By Tuesday evening, it had swept through 1,007.3 acres. As of Tuesday evening, the fire crew succeeded in containing 10% of the wildfire. Currently, there is no information available on the cause of the fire.

Fire containment

This is what 10% containment means

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