COARSEGOLD – The Coarsegold Rodeo Association (CRA) wants to let the community know about the availability of grant applications for — donation or funding — open to any local nonprofit youth group, or individual kid. The CRA calls the mini-grants “bump bids,” and young people don’t necessarily have to be affiliated with the rodeo to receive one. “Every year we ...

MADERA COUNTY – Following are details from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office of reports taken locally during the week of Monday, July 27 through Sunday, Aug 2, 2015. Bass Lake Burglary A deputy responded to a radio call on Monday, July 27 at 7:38 a.m., arriving at the 54000 block of Road 432 for report of a commercial burglary. An ...

NORTH FORK – Demobilization continues on the Willow Fire, now estimated at 5,702 acres with 80 percent containment. Crews are being released to other fires across the state, and activity is winding down at the Incident Command Post. There are currently 1,313 personnel assigned to the incident. All remaining evacuations will be lifted as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, ...

NORTH FORK – The Willow Fire is now estimated at 5,502 acres and is 70 percent contained. Fire crews will continue mopping up hot spots and improving finelines. Smoke can still be seen within the fire as interior islands and heavy down material smolder. While 450 structures were threatened, not a single one was lost. Six minor injuries have been ...

NORTH FORK – Just hours after crews completed firing operations along the southern perimeter of the Willow Fire, their work was tested by Mother Nature as gusts approaching 40 mph blasted through the Willow Creek drainage. Just after 9 p.m. last night, winds began blowing from the north at sustained speeds of up to 16 mph, sending embers flying and ...

NORTH FORK – As the Willow Fire has played out over the past eight days, and residents have watched in alarm as huge plumes of smoke rise over Peckinpah Mountain, people may have wondered just who’s running this show. Well, that would be a group of calm, methodical, deliberate individuals who make up the South Central Sierra Interagency Incident Management ...

NORTH FORK –  At the morning briefing today crews were told that this would be a pivotal day on the Willow Fire. That certainly proved to be true. Huge columns of smoke rose from the foot of Peckinpah Mountain throughout the morning and much of the afternoon as firefighters burned out vegetation inside control lines. The show started long before ...

COUNTY – Two wildfires, Willow Fire in Madera County and Cabin Fire in Tulare County, have prompted local air officials to issue a health cautionary statement for smoke impacts throughout the eight-county air basin: San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and the Valley portion of Kern counties. As any local resident can attest, currently smoke impacts are concentrated ...

NORTH FORK – It was a full house for a Town Hall meeting this afternoon as fire officials shared the latest updates on the Willow Fire, and answered questions from residents. Incident Commander David Cooper and his team hosted the meeting, explaining the firing operation currently underway, and making educated predictions on when evacuated residents might be allowed to return ...

NORTH FORK – Crews made good progress on the Willow Fire overnight, holding and strengthening existing lines and continuing burnout operations. The fire is now estimated at 5,116 acres and is 50 percent contained. Crews continued firing along the southeastern flank throughout the night, removing fuels that threaten the fireline protecting the Cascadel Woods area. While the winds were mostly ...