SACRAMENTO — Today, the State of California will roll out a first-of-its-kind approach to curbing the state’s catastrophic wildfire problem by providing new protections for prescribed fire and cultural burning practitioners. The $20 million allocated for the “Prescribed Fire Liability Claims Fund Pilot” will cover losses in the rare instance that a prescribed or cultural burn escapes control. California Senator ...

OAKHURST–The local American Red Cross in Oakhurst has been selected to participate in a pilot “Wildfire Assessment” program for the residents of Eastern Madera County. This program is to assess Zone Zero (0 to 5 feet from your residence). Most structures that burn during a wildfire are the result of burning embers igniting combustible vegetation and other combustibles within Zone ...

MARIPOSA– After another wet winter and above average snowpack, warming temperatures and winds are quickly drying out the abundant annual grass crop. The increasing fire danger posed by the high volume of dead grass and hotter, drier conditions in the region is prompting CAL FIRE to suspend all burn permits for outdoor residential burning within the State Responsibility Area of ...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK–Yosemite Fire and Aviation plans to begin ignitions on a 120-acre prescribed burn in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park on Tuesday, June 20th. Two days of live firing operations followed by multiple days of patrol and mop-up for this prescribed burn are planned. UPDATE This burn has been canceled due to predicted winds. ...

MARIPOSA—CAL FIRE Law Enforcement Officers arrested 71-year-old Edward Fredrick Wackerman on Friday, June 16, 2023, in Mariposa County. Through an extensive investigation, Wackerman, a local Mariposa resident, has been identified as the suspect responsible for igniting the Oak fire in July 2022. The Oak fire occurred in the Midpines area in Mariposa County. The Oak fire burned 19,244 acres of ...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK–Yosemite National Park fire crews have several prescribed burns planned over the next several weeks. Fire crews will begin burning in Mariposa Grove starting this week as conditions allow. Ignitions are planned to begin today, May 30th, in the early evening and extend into tomorrow. Mariposa Grove Unit 2 is 37 acres, and Mariposa Grove Unit 4 is ...

COARSEGOLD– The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), in cooperation with California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Department of Transportation (CAL TRANS), Pacific Southwest Research Station / Fresno State University, Private Landowners, and San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, aims to reduce large conflagrative fires and high suppression costs, to the citizens of California, by conducting a ...

O’NEALS—The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) is reporting several small vegetation fires are burning near Highway 41 and Road 200 (North Fork Road). Firefighters including ground crews and aircraft are on scene. Each fire on Hwy 41 is estimated to be under 1/10th of an acre.  The Fire on Rd 200 is approximately 1 acre. We will ...

MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES–The 2023 Wildfire season is just around the corner, and the time to prepare for wildfires is now. The Valley Air District encourages residents to be prepared and plan for potential poor air quality due to wildfire smoke that might reach the Valley as we head into the hotter, drier time of the year. Predicting the severity of the ...

MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES–With fire season right around the corner, knowing when a fire starts in your area can mean the difference between life and death. Nearly every wildfire fatality occurs within the first hour, yet official notifications are often delayed, sparse, or non-existent.  Watch Duty (WD), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, alerts you of nearby wildfires and firefighting efforts in real time when ...