Contra Costa County firefighters stopped the "forward progress" of the Marsh Fire, which happened near a decommissioned power plant in Pittsburg early Saturday evening.
A Contra Costa County Fire Protection District spokesperson said firefighters will remain on scene overnight to mop up numerous hot spots.
The vegetation fire, which has been smoldering since it first started a month ago, has scorched 200 acres and 70% contained. The smoldering fire flared up early Saturday afternoon, creating a huge, dark cloud of smoke that was seen throughout the eastern portion of the county.
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No structures were affected by Saturday's flare-up. There were no injuries to firefighters or civilians.
During the afternoon, Cal Fire air support was brought in to assist, dropping thousands of gallons of water on the flames from three large, heavy-lift helicopters that carry a massive capacity of water and fire retardant.
Pittsburg residents have been dealing with the smoke for weeks now.
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“We have our children playing outside, we can’t go outside even when we open the garage, there’s smoke coming in,” one resident said.
“With the wind blowing, it’s been a problem lately,” said Pittsburg resident Markell McCain.
Firefighters said a persistent fire keeps coming back and burning more land every time it reignites. It originally started on May 30 at Bay Point.
“Because of that we were monitoring the fire daily or the smoldering fire daily to make sure it wasn’t going to take off on us again,” said Joe Ottolini with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.
With air and ground resources, crews were able to stop forward progress and eliminate any threats against the communities on the eastern side of the fire. A nearby car shop said five or six of their vehicles did catch on fire.
Residents in the area are just hoping crews win the final battle against this troublesome fire.
"It's too close for comfort. I don’t feel safe. Hopefully, they can get it fixed,” said McCain.
