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Railroad Fire in Lewis Creek drainage - photo by Gina Clugston

Railroad Fire Pushes Hard To The South, More Evacuations

FISH CAMP — After a day of intense activity on the southern perimeter of the Railroad Fire, it is now estimated at 6,180 acres with 23 percent containment.

There are currently 800 personnel assigned to the incident.

A storm passed through the area this afternoon creating strong outflow winds and pushing the fire south toward the residential areas of Cedar Valley and Sky Ranch.

Cedar Valley was evacuated at 10 a.m. this morning. At about 5 p.m., the Sky Ranch Road was ordered evacuated.

Two new fires started just after 1 p.m. today, forcing evacuations in North Fork and Mariposa County. In order to keep updating on the new fires, attendance at the evening briefing in Ahwahnee was not possible. Which means there are no first-hand details on today’s activities. Apologies.

We will update everyone on conditions on the fireline, the recent movement to the south, and the Nelder Grove in the morning. If any new information comes in this evening – which we do anticipate – we will update this article.

The map at the bottom is from the day shift, before all the activity took place today. There will be better mapping after tonight’s flyover.

Closures and evacuations on the Railroad Fire (in addition to Sky Ranch):

A mandatory evacuation order has been issued for the Cedar Valley Subdivision, including the following roads:

  • Cedar Valley Drive
  • Deer Run Trail
  • Lazy Oak Drive
  • Cedar Brook Road
  • Cedar Springs Road
  • Mountain Meadow Road
  • Chu Ranch Road
  • Tolladay Road
  • Jackson Road
  • Cedar Ridge Circle North and South
  • ManzanitA Drive
  • Three Springs Road
  • Lakeside Drive
  • Cedar Place

Highway 41 remains closed in both directions from Cedar Valley on the south (about three miles north of Oakhurst), to Wawona inside Yosemite National Park. Yosemite visitors should use Highway 49 to Highway 140 or 120 for entrance to the National Park.

Road closures include all Highway 41 offshoots between Cedar Valley Road and Summerdale Campground north of Fish Camp, in both Madera County and Mariposa County, and Road 630 (Sugar Pine Road) and all cross streets, including Sugar Pine Christian Camps.

Jackson Road (6S07) is closed from Fish Camp to Beasore Road.

A mandatory evacuation is in place for the the community of Fish Camp, the Tenaya Lodge, the Narrow Gauge Inn, the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad, the community of Sugar Pine including the Christian Camp, Cedar Valley, Sky Ranch, Big Sandy and Summerdale campgrounds, Nelder Grove, Camp Redwood, Paradise Springs, Calvin Crest, ECCO Conference Center, and Soquel and Texas Flat campgrounds.

There have been some changes to this list of Forest road closures:

  • Road 632
  • Forest Road 5S10 at 5S39
  • Forest Road 6S13 at Road 274
  • Forest Road 6S08 at 6S36
  • Forest Road 6S10 at 6S39
  • Forest Road 6S99 at Beasore Road
  • Forest Road 6S40 at Beasore Road
  • Forest Road 6S40X at Beasore Road
  • Forest Road 5S40Y at Beasore Road
  • Worman Road one mile in from Highway 49 (at Road 601).

The community of Wawona is still on alert to the possible threat from this fire. Residents and visitors are encouraged to make appropriate pre-evacuation preparations.

The Red Cross Evacuation Center at the Oakhurst Community Center has been reopened at 39880 Road 425B.

Also, the Central California Animal Disaster Team (CCADT) has re-activated a small animal shelter at the Oakhurst Community Center Pavillion Building. Large animals can be sheltered at the Coarsegold Rodeo Grounds, at 44777 Rodeo Grounds Lane in Coarsegold. The phone number is 559-676-7864.

For animal evacuations, people will need to call the Sheriff’s Office Dispatch at (559) 675-7770 to request help. CCADT will be working with Madera County Animal Control to help with evacs if needed

The hot line number for the Red Cross is 559-343-2549.

All roads past Wawona inside Yosemite are open, except Glacier Point Road, which was closed last Sunday due to increased fire activity on the Empire Fire.

For fire updates, residents and visitors can message RAILROADFIRE (one word) to 888777.

A fire information line has been established for the Railroad Fire at 559-373-0040.

The Railroad Fire was reported at 12:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 29, just south of the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad on the west side of Highway 41. It is burning on the Bass Lake Ranger District of the Sierra National Forest.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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