Tumey Fire grows to 1,200 acres in rural western Fresno County

Flames in rural western Fresno County spread fast enough to force an overnight firefighting posture after the Tumey Fire erupted on Panoche Road, west of Interstate 5, near the Tumey Gun Range and the Panoche Hills. By 6:34 p.m. Sunday, CAL FIRE listed the fire at 1,200 acres with no containment, and crews were still working the blaze into the night.

The fire started about 2:02 p.m. and burned in grass with a moderate rate of spread, giving it room to run across dry fuels in open country. CAL FIRE assigned 160 personnel, including 18 engines, 3 water tenders, 2 helicopters, 2 dozers, 1 hand crew and 12 other resources. Numerous firefighting air tankers from across the state were also sent when conditions allowed.

Officials issued evacuation warnings for P6, P7 and P31, and the Fresno Sheriff’s Department evacuated the Tumey Gun Range. The Tumey Recreational Area remained closed, but Interstate 5 stayed open to travelers even as smoke and suppression traffic moved through the area. By 7:51 p.m., CAL FIRE said the fire had reached 20% containment.

By Monday morning, the fire had stopped advancing and containment had climbed to 85%, but the episode underscored how quickly a spring grass fire can become the dominant public-safety concern in western Fresno County. The Tumey Hills and Panoche Hills sit in a landscape of public land, recreation and fragile habitat, not far from one of the Central Valley’s busiest travel corridors, so a fire there carries consequences beyond the burn scar itself.

The Bureau of Land Management closes Panoche and Tumey Hills to vehicle access every year beginning April 15 to reduce wildfire risk, a reminder that this terrain is already recognized as vulnerable at the start of fire season. The area also supports habitat for the San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard and giant kangaroo rat, adding ecological stakes to a fire that moved through grasslands already under seasonal restrictions.