SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST — With the recent change in weather conditions the Sierra National Forest is ending the 2017 Fire Season and lifting campfire restrictions. Visitors are now permitted to have campfires using wood and charcoal in the Sierra National Forest. As fall and winter arrive most campgrounds are closed for the season. However, campfires will be permitted outside of ...

NORTH FORK – The Sierra National Forest, Bass Lake Ranger District, is preparing for the fall, winter, and spring burning program, said District Ranger Denise Tolmie, and projects will consist of three activities: pile burning, broadcast, and underburning. The objectives will be to reduce fuel loading from recent tree morality, and hazard removal projects within the Wildland Urban Interface and ...

OAKHURST — A vegetation fire on Deadwood between Oakhurst and Coarsegold caused the temporary closure of Highway 41 Sunday night. At about 9:17 p.m on Sunday, Oct. 15, firefighters were called out to respond to what the reporting party referred to as a “very large fire” on Highway 41 near Road 425C. The first engine on scene reported the grass ...

Why seed after a wildfire? Loss of vegetation leaves land vulnerable to increased runoff, erosion, and sedimentation. It also encourages weeds, degrades habitat, and impairs forest regeneration. Reestablishment of permanent vegetation provides long-term erosion control, may restore lost habitat values, and may help suppress noxious weed invasion after a wildfire. However it takes time and favorable climatic conditions to establish ...

OAKHURST — Fire steals, even from those who fight it. It robs creatures of habitat, takes possessions, property, land, and sometimes, life. Fire also gives back: flames can be restorative, over time, for overgrown forests filled with beetle-infested, drought-plagued timber. Fire makes way for fledgling trees and new families of fauna to thrive on once-sterile ground. And fire can remind ...

NORTH FORK — Just before 4 p.m. today crews were called to reports of a vegetation fire burning in the vicinity of Road 225 and Lark Lane in North Fork. The first engine on scene reports the fire is about one-acre, burning in grass and brush at a moderate rate. At least one home is immediately threatened. Residents surrounding the ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY — Firefighters continue to make excellent progress on the Detwiler Fire, aided by good humidity recovery during the overnight hours. The fire is now estimated at 81,350 acres with 75 percent containment. Crews have been focused on the erratic northeast corner for the past few days, with the only section of uncontrolled line between Dogtown and North Fork. ...

OAKHURST– The Central California Animal Disaster Team (CCADT) has opened emergency animal shelters for small companion animals co-located with Red Cross shelters. Some larger animals are being sheltered at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds while others are at the Coarsegold Rodeo Grounds. “The first fire we did here was in 2013, called the Carstens Fire and we had about 70 to ...

OAKHURST — Now several days into ongoing evacuations from the Detwiler Fire burning in Mariposa County, local relief agencies are busy coordinating efforts on behalf of those who are temporarily displaced. The Red Cross has set up sanctioned shelters at three locations in the Oakhurst area, as of now: Oakhurst Evangelical Free Church, Sierra Vista Presbyterian Church and Mountain Christian ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY — As firefighters prepare for another hard day on the firelines, the residents of Mariposa are holding their breath. Overnight, the fire nearly doubled in size to 45,724 acres with just 7 percent containment, and continues its relentless advance on the historic town. More than 1,500 homes are threatened, 8 have been destroyed and 1 damaged. There are currently ...