COARSEGOLD — An accident on Highway 41 involving a school bus slowed traffic for well over an hour this afternoon. Today at about 1:50 p.m., a Yosemite School District bus was southbound on Highway 41 and was stopped, waiting for traffic to clear to make a left turn onto Mecca Lane. According to CHP, traffic on northbound Highway 41 was ...

YOSEMITE — Yosemite National Park is preparing for two prescribed burns in the next week, and are expressing their gratitude to the local Firewise communities who support the use of prescribed fire. “Given the long summer of wildfires this year, the park appreciates your understanding that prescribed fires also have a place on our landscapes during the fall, winter, and ...

CALIFORNIA — Firefighters continue to battle nearly two dozen wildfires across the state as more people are evacuated from their homes and officials attempt to locate hundreds of persons reported as missing. Overnight fire conditions were very active on several fronts, forcing additional evacuations across Northern California. There are now 22 large wildfires actively burning, that have charred nearly 170,000 ...

OAKHURST — A motorcyclist was airlifted to the hospital after attempting to elude police on Highway 41 in Oakhurst last night. Just after 11 p.m., a CHP officer was headed southbound into Oakhurst near Suburban Propane when a Honda GL1100 motorcycle passed him in the opposite direction at a high rate of speed. The officer made a U-turn and turned ...

NORTH FORK — As often happens when crews are called up for an incident – whether fire or hurricane – the Crane Valley Hot Shots were released back to their duty station after gearing up to assist in the Puerto Rico disaster. The 20-person crew responded last Saturday to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., ready and willing to ...

CALIFORNIA — Seventeen large wildfires continue to burn in California and over the past 24 hours have charred over 115,000 acres. The winds that fanned these fires Sunday night and Monday morning have decreased significantly, but local winds and dry conditions continue to pose a challenge. The decrease in the winds combined with cooler weather allowed firefighters to make some ...

CALIFORNIA — Anyone who thought fire season might be over need look no further than Napa/ Sonoma County area to have that notion dispelled. Overnight, significant winds fanned over a dozen fires across Northern California. Fifteen new wind-whipped wildfires in eight counties have already burned over 73,000 acres in the past 12 hours, says Cal Fire. Firefighters have been challenged ...

SONOMA COUNTY — Several large wildfires that started yesterday in the Santa Rosa area burned tens of thousands of acres overnight bolstered by wind gusts up to 70 mph, destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. According to reports, as of 11:30 a.m. 1,500 structures have burned. For conditions as they develop, ...

SACRAMENTO – Did you know that only one-third of Americans have created and practiced a home fire escape plan? Almost three-quarters of Americans have an escape plan; however, less than half ever practice it, says Cal Fire. With these statistics, it’s time to stop being complacent and get the ball rolling in creating a home escape plan for you and ...

OAKHURST — The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is asking for information about dozens of gunshots heard by residents in the area of Road 426 and Road 423 last night. On Thursday night, several people called in and reported hearing about 75 gunshots in the area, according to the Sheriff’s Office, and one person said it sounded like a “gun fight.” ...