Updated: 9:02 a.m. June 9

First discovered: 4 months ago, 4 p.m. Feb. 10

Initial location: Shasta County, Calif.

Fire type: Wildfire

Fire name: Shoe

Shoe Fire initially started 4 p.m. Feb. 10 in Shasta County, 12 Miles Sw Of Big Bend, Sulanharas Creek Drainage.

After being active for four months, it has burned 5,124 acres of federal land managed by the United States Forest Service. As of Monday morning, a crew of 118 firefighters successfully contained the entire fire. Human activity is believed to be the cause of the fire, yet the exact action that set it off has yet to be identified. Efforts to combat the fire have incurred $42,654,106 so far, with the anticipated final cost standing at $60,000,000.

This fire’s primary fuel source includes timber, grass and understory vegetation.

Historic data

NIFC statistics for 2024 show that humans caused 8,011 fires in California, resulting in 990,939 acres of wildland burned.

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: National Interagency Fire Center