Applegate Fire in California 25 Percent Contained; Multiple Points of Origin Uncovered, Maps as of Oct. 10, 2014

As of Thursday night, the Applegate fire is 25 per cent contained, but warm temperatures are helping fuel its spread, according to Auburn Journal.

The said fire along Northern California interstate has already destroyed five homes, and is feared to destroy more, as the fires have already burned through 420 acres since Wednesday, despite efforts from some 1,200 firefighters to contain the fire and keep it from reaching the American River canyon where dry bush could worsen the problem.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) spokesman Daniel Berlant in an interview with USA Today said, "We are hoping to hold this fire back, but that may not happen with these weather conditions. . . We have a lot of resources and we are hitting this fire hard, ... (but) we're already seeing fire activity increase and today is going to be hotter than yesterday."

"There are hundreds of homes built back into the forested areas. "What we don't want to see is this fire get into that canyon and burn like it did with the King Fire," Berlant added.

According to USA Today, officials with (Cal Fire) said the fire started as seven separate fires around 1:30 p.m. PT Wednesday near Interstate 80.

The Applegate Fire also has closed two lanes of Interstate 80 eastbound from Applegate about 3 miles east to Weimar, and residents from Applegate in Placer County are already forced to evacuate given the gravity of the situation.

Among the evacuation centers for affected residents are:

1. Sierra Vista Community Center, 55 School Street in Colfax

2. Auburn Veterans Memorial Hall, 100 East Street in Auburn

3. An animal evacuation shelter at Gold Country Fairgrounds at 1273 High Street, Auburn

As for the origin of the fire, it was not yet clear as to who or what cause it, according to officials, but they are looking at the possibility of human activity.

Meanwhile, reports from News10 said that CalFire arson investigators have found "five to seven points of origin for the Applegate Fire burning between Auburn and Colfax, which are in about a one-mile stretch of Interstate 80."  

California Highway Patrol officer Mike Martis said that at least two callers reported seeing several tires burning along the eastbound shoulder of the interstate.

Firefighters are surmising that someone traveling along the interstate might have thrown burning papers out of a vehicle which sparked the said fire.

The cause is still under investigation as of the present time.