MARIPOSA – Due to the “extreme menace of wildfire and its potential to destroy life, property and natural resources,” Madera-Mariposa-Merced Unit (MMU) Chief Nancy Koerperich has suspended certain activities within the State Responsibility Area (SRA), including campfires and outdoor smoking.
Due to current and predicted fire weather, the lack of precipitation, the dryness of vegetation, and the increased fire activity, “unusual fire conditions” exist as described in Sections 4423.1of the Public Resource Code (PRC), said Koerperich in a statement released today.
Activities suspended, except within incorporated cities, include:
• The use of campfires, (PRC 4423.3), except within facilities constructed for that purpose within the confines of a campground established, maintained, and open for public use whether publicly or privately owned.
• Outdoor smoking, (PRC 4423.4), except within motor vehicles while operating or parked on established roads, rest stops, or parking areas cleared of flammable vegetation, within established campgrounds open to the public, or within an area that is at least three feet or approximately one meter in diameter, which has been cleared to mineral soil by removal of all flammable vegetation and duff.
This suspension shall include the geographic area described as:
ALL STATE RESPONSIBILITY AREA LANDS WITHIN MADERA, MARIPOSA, AND MERCED COUNTIES.
This order shall become effective at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 2, and shall remain in effect until formally terminated by Nancy B. Koerperich, Unit Chief Madera-Mariposa-Merced Unit.
