Visibility, tough terrain and dense brush slow down firefighters in overnight battle of Crozier Fire

PLACERVILLE – Firefighting efforts continue on the frontline of the Crozier Fire after the sun goes down Thursday night.

Hundreds of firefighters are on the ground facing tough conditions to get a handle on the Crozier Fire. As of Thursday night, the fire has burned more than 1,500 acres and is 5% contained. It is burning in a remote part of El Dorado County, just north of Placerville.

Ground crews are not only battling flames in the dark, but they're also dealing with tough terrain and dense brush. The only light they have is from the fire and a small headlamp on their helmets.

"Footing, visibility, where you're going, where you want to go to, it just slows everything down," Cosumnes Fire Captain Tyson Widegren said.

Not only are crews battling thick brush in this area and very steep terrain but also changing wind directions as well.

"Night time comes, everything cools off and the wind shifts direction around midnight and into the wee hours of the morning it starts drifting back down. So what is the hot flank in the day becomes the cold flank and it reverses and the heal is now the head at night so that does present challenges," Widegren said.

Thursday night's effort comes with more resources than last. On Wednesday there were about 540 crewmembers. Thursday, there are more than 1,200.

That includes the fight from the air. Helicopters with night vision capability are now on the fire, dropping nearly 80,000 gallons of water over five hours, helping hand crews on the ground.

"With the water drops coming out of the helicopters, we're able to knock out flames front down and buy guys time on the ground to get their plan in place," battalion chief for Cal Fire's Night Helco James Tully said.

Cal Fire said crews hope to make good progress on the fire as temperatures go down and humidity goes up.

Mandatory evacuations remain in El Dorado County.