The Basin wildfire is now the fourth largest of California’s season, continuing to spread in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Fresno.
The fire, which started June 26, was at 11,047 acres (17.2 square miles) on the morning of Sunday, June 30, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
The mandatory evacuation zone covered 135 square miles in the Sierra National Forest.
Ten miles to the southwest, the merged Bolt and Flash fires were more than half contained, and that evacuation zone was downgraded to a warning on Saturday. The fires’ area was at 10,375 acres (16.2 square miles), accounting for 97% of the Fresno June Lightning Complex.
The map above shows the approximate fire perimeters as a black line and the mandatory evacuation area in red. For more details of the evacuations, including areas under warning, see Fresno County’s emergency map.
An evacuation shelter was set up at Reedley College (995 N. Reed Ave., Reedley). Small pets were being accepted at the Reedley site; large animals can be taken to the fairgrounds in Fresno (1121 S. Chance Ave.).
The season’s largest wildfires so far — Sites (19,195 acres) and Post (15,563) — were contained last week. The third largest is Corral, which burned 14,168 acres in San Joaquin County in the first week of June.