Wine Country fires now 100% contained! But what does that really mean? (versus controlled or out?)

Full containment reached on all North San Francisco Bay wildfires

“Contained is good. “Controlled” is better. “Out” is best.

Scott A. McLean, Deputy Chief,  CAL FIRE / HQ, Chief of Information explained the differences in an email to Wine Industry Insight:

“A fire is contained when it is surrounded on all sides by some kind of boundary but is still burning and has the potential to jump a boundary line.

“The boundary may be a “fire line” which is a strip of area where the vegetation has been removed to deny the fire fuel, or a river, a freeway or some other barrier which is expected to stop the spread of the fire. Hose lines from fire engines may also contribute to a fire being surrounded and contained.

“A fire is controlled when there is no further threat of it jumping a containment line. While crews continue to do mop-up work within the fire lines, the fire fight is over.”

Finally, according to  the National Wildfire Coordinating Group: “a fire is considered ‘out- when NO hot spots are detected within containment lines for at least 48 hours.”

Containment is a measure of the % of the fire perimeter

McLean also sent a PIO map which shows perimeters (a portion of which is reproduced below). Red marks the un-contained  area and and black is contained.