Firefighters are working to keep the Left Hand Fire from descending a ridge to State Route 410 and homes in the area, officials assured residents Tuesday.
About 100 people crowded into the Nile Community Church hall to hear representatives of the U.S. Forest Service, state Department of Natural Resources, members of the incident management team handling the fire, as well as county emergency management and air-quality officials give a report on the status of firefighting operations and answer questions from people concerned about the fire that has burned since July 23.
“This chunk of ground we’re calling Heartbreak Ridge,” said Chris Orr, with Pacific Northwest Incident Management Team 7, which has been handling the fire since Saturday. “If it goes down to the 410 corridor, it’s not good.”