Fire crews are wrapping up the wild land fire that threatened parts of Bishop on Sunday. Local firefighters will continue to monitor the burned area, but fire fighters from out of the area have started to pack up and head home, according to Cal Fire Chief Roger Thompson.

As the mop up stage comes to an end, Chief Thompson says that more accurate mapping of the burned area shows that the fire was about 1,000 acres in size, down from the 1200 acre original size estimates.

The acreage of the fire has dropped, but the cause remains accidental. Thompson explained that a group of southern California fisherman knocked over a Coleman stove. The high winds quickly spread the flame through the grass before the anglers could put it out. They then went to the Bishop Police station to own up to starting the fire.

With the fire pointed straight toward Dixon Lane in Bishop, Thompson says that air support played a key role in catching this one. Air support isn’t cheap, Thompson expects that the total cost of suppression through the rehab could end up at a half million dollars.

In theory the state could charge the fishermen for fire suppression efforts. Thompson says that the state could pursue a cost recovery if the investigation leads that way.

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