Marsh Fire in Pittsburg Flares Up With Hot Spots Causing Smoke

A pesky fire that keeps causing smoke issues for East Contra Costa County began to flare up Tuesday afternoon in the Bay Point and Pittsburg areas.

According to Contra Costa County Fire, they were called out to smoke in the area just after 1:00 pm and upon further investigation located several spot fires throughout the field in the area of Willow Pass and Bailey. By 1:59 pm, they stated people will continue to see smoke.

CONFIRE spokesperson Steve Hill confirmed late Tuesday that they have reports of hot spots in the areas that were not flooded and have had crews out working with the property owner, noting that this was probably exacerbated by extreme heat.

On July 23, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District announced that flooding on the Marsh IC incident in the City of Pittsburg and Bay Point has ended.

Timeline:

• The original fire began the early afternoon of May 28 in a homeless encampment near Suisun and Solano Avenues in Bay Point that burned to approximately 200 acres. The homeless encampment was completely consumed by the fire. No injuries were reported
• The May 28 fire occurred in a largely inaccessible area with no structures or inhabitants and created a lingering and stubborn fire that has burned in the marsh since that date. The fire burned into large amounts of peat in the area throughout the ensuing six weeks, consuming additional vegetation and intermittently producing noticeable smoke, depending on weather conditions, but still threatening no structures or lives
• On Saturday, July 9, driven by wind, the peat fire flared up extending into adjacent grassy areas of Pittsburg, threatening overhead high-voltage PG&E transmission lines and nearby decommissioned industrial sites.
• In spite of high winds at the scene, an overwhelming response from Con Fire, aided by Cal Fire, resulted in the fire being contained before it could extend into neighboring homes.
• Con Fire requested mutual aid from Cal Fire for water-dropping helicopters. Due to the threat to PG&E infrastructure, this request was granted
• Before it was contained, the fire consumed an additional 74 acres, bringing the total area consumed by the fires to approximately 500 acres. As of July 11, the Marsh Fire is contained and continues to smolder in inaccessible areas of the Bay Point and Pittsburg waterfront
• Peat fires are notoriously stubborn, can be virtually impossible to extinguish, and are often left, for lack of alternatives, to burn themselves out.
• Today, the remaining peat fire is producing significant smoke but presenting little fire danger to the surrounding area. It is NOT threatening structures; no evacuations are anticipated, as a result. The Fire has consumed most of the fuel adjacent to the community, increasing the margin of safety that would otherwise present a fire risk
• The property owner has been cooperative, hiring contractors to mow and disk hundreds of acres to eliminate hazardous fuels
• PG&E also provided resources to support the operation in the form of infrastructure protection teams and a large water-dropping helicopter
• We share resident concerns regarding the smoke and are aggressively pursuing additional remedies for the situation with city and county officials, other jurisdictions, the property owner, and multiple regulatory agencies, in an attempt to mitigate the situation as soon as possible
• Con Fire continues to monitor the fire scene and is prepared to immediately address any flare ups that may occur.
• We have coordinated with Contra Costa Health Services to monitor air quality in the fire area and, as a result, CCHS issued a health advisory late on July 11.
• July 23 – CONFIRE called the flooding complete.
• For information on protecting yourself and your family from smoke, please visit cchealth.org/wildfire-smoke/