Last updated Monday, June 11 at 9:54 a.m.
Three separate wildfires southwest of Hollister started Monday evening June 4, CalFire confirmed. Smoke continued to linger from the scene and the plume blanketed the Gabilan mountain range.
The three fires, known as Airline Fire, Eastern Fire, and Panoche Fire, are in various stages of containment.
The Airline Fire, the largest of the three, started at approximately 5:08 p.m. on Monday June 4. The fire has burned 1,314 acres and is 94 percent contained as of 6:59 a.m. on June 11. The fire is burning off Coalinga, Hernandez Road, and Airline Highway.
Paicines resident Janel Hennel Flook evacuated her horses from her property, but no structures were damaged from the fire.
“Thank you to our amazing neighbors who showed up and brought trailers, all of our horses safe and sound,” Flook said on Facebook. “It takes a village and we are blessed with ours.”
According to CalFire, the Eastern Fire has burned 513Â acres off Coalinga Road, east of Bitterwater. It is 94Â percent contained as of 6:58 a.m. on June 11.
Overnight, a third brush fire at the 20000 block of Panoche Road was reported at 11:14 p.m. Known as the Panoche Fire, the blaze burned 64 acres and is 100 percent contained as of 7:05 p.m. on June 6. The San Benito County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to assist CalFire with the incident.
According to a statement released from the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office early Tuesday: during Panoche Fire operations, firefighters located remains of what appeared to be an adult female, a toddler, and an infant in a camping trailer. Detectives processed the scene and CalFire is investigating the cause of the fire.
David Clark, public information officer for CalFire San Benito-Monterey Unit, told BenitoLink on Tuesday that CalFire is responding to the three fires with multiple air drops, fire engines, bulldozers, and hand crews.
The cause of the fires is still under investigation.
Check back for updates.
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