UPDATE: Wishon Fire reaches 45% containment; evacuation warnings lifted

Firefighters are still battling the Wishon Fire, a brushfire that sparked Monday afternoon east of Springville in the Sequoia National Forest.

Fire officials estimate the 350-acre blaze is 45% contained. Sheriff Mike Boudreaux lifted evacuation warnings for Wishon Camp and Doyle Springs Tuesday night.

"Coming home after a wildfire can be difficult. The damage is often unknown until the homeowner returns days or weeks later," the latest update on Inciweb reads. "Before returning home always check with officials before attempting to return to your home."

Initially, campers at Wishon Campground were asked to leave the area; Doyle Spring residents were allowed to remain in place unless conditions worsened.

Instead, the fire's acreage stayed the same throughout Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday morning.

“Fire activity was minimal across the fire perimeter today allowing crews to make substantial progress,” the update continues. “Although the fire area experienced above average temperatures, expected thunderstorms missed the fire area. The perimeter of the fire experienced little to no wind.”

Incident meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Los Angeles were dispatched to assist with the Wishon Fire on Tuesday night. Trained to provide weather support and forecasts, they help keep fire crews safe as they work on the flames.

High temperatures are expected heading into the afternoon, as well as the possibility of thunderstorms close to the burn site for a few days.

Moving forward, firefighters will “continue to improve existing fire control lines from previous fires... do structural assessment, prepping and point protection as needed... [and] work to improve containment lines and to the east and north.”

The USDA Forest Service, Cal Fire and Tulare County deputies and firefighters, as well as other entities — more than 280 personnel overall — have responded to the fire, including nine engines, 14 hand crews, five helicopters and six air tankers from Porterville and Visalia.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation and a Type 2 Incident Management Team has been requested.

Type 2 Incident Management teams are usually assigned to major fires, lengthy search and rescue missions, law enforcement incidents as well as multi-day special events.

Type 1 Incident Management teams manage large-scale, complex wildfires but can also be assigned to other natural disasters.

California Highway Patrol also lifted its Highway 190 road closure; however, people are being asked to avoid the area so employees can continue containment efforts.

“Fire personnel, heavy equipment and utility companies are still working in the area,” said Ashley Ritchie, a Tulare County Sherriff’s Department spokesperson. “Please avoid traveling on Highway 190 and Wishon Drive to allow personnel to continue their efforts on containing the fire and restoring power.”

Power remains out at Camp Nelson, Doyle Springs, Pierpoint and Ponderosa as of Tuesday night.

"There were multiple poles and lines burned in the fire," a Facebook reply from the U.S. Forest Service reads, "that will delay power being restored until utility companies can repair them."

An SCE field investigator is determining the cause of the outage, according to a 6:46 a.m. update, and more than 1400 customers have been impacted.

In the wake of the fire, the Red Cross of Central California confirmed it was monitoring the fire and advised people to prepare for the threat of the wildfire by keeping personal, financial and medical records safe and gathering medical supplies.

"Our teams are keeping an eye on fire conditions and wildfires burning across Central California," the Red Cross Central California tweeted Tuesday. "We're ready to respond and open evacuation shelters as needed."

Lauren Jennings covers education and news for the Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register. Follow her on Twitter @lolojennings. Get alerts and keep up on all things Tulare County for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: UPDATE: Wishon Fire reaches 45% containment; evacuation warnings lifted