PATTERSON, CA (KNX) -- State fire officials said, firefighters worked to contain a wildfire that started in rugged rural canyons in western Stanislaus County and quadrupled in size before crossing over into Santa Clara County.
The wind-whipped fire in the Del Puerto Canyon near Frank Raines Regional Park had burned more than 16,600 acres and was heading southwest over ranch land toward Henry W. Coe State Park, Chris Morgan, spokesman for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
"We had a setback out there,'' Morgan said after the blaze grew from 11,000 acres earlier and the containment level went down from 45 percent earlier in the day. "It got into some very tough territory and it blew out our lines," he added.
Three firefighters were treated for minor heat-related illnesses.
The fire burned about 10 square miles and blackened a wide swath of hillside around the windmills along the Altamont Pass before being put out around 9 p.m., Morgan said.
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