Grass Valley progress

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Fire officials said they had made some progress on the Grass Valley fire overnight, and that no additional homes were thought to have been lost. But officials are still working on damage assessments.

Jack Froggatt of the Kern County Fire Department, branch director on the Slide fire, told firefighters at the Rim of the World High School command post during a 7 a.m. briefing today that they had made progress slowing the blaze’s march through homes in Running Springs.

About 10 more homes in Running Springs were lost overnight, Froggatt said, but he cautioned that fire officials “really don’t have a handle on numbers yet.” There are still a number of “holdover fires”
burning in Running Springs, and firefighter resources are concentrated in the wealthy Rimwood Ranch neighborhood south of Highway 18.

“All we’ve been doing is chasing structure for two days,” Froggatt told firefighters. He said he hoped the focus could shift to perimeter control today.

-- Maeve Reston