NORTH FORK – Oct. 12, 2020 – With the Creek Fire now at more than 55% contained and having consumed more than 333,000 acres there are still more than 1800 personnel fighting hard to bring full containment that is not expected until the end of the month. MADERA COUNTY – North Zone – Engine crews continue to patrol and monitor the ...

MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES — The COVID-19 pandemic has more people than ever ordering from Amazon, and of course, scammers are finding ways to cash in on the trend. Con artists are posing as Amazon employees, calling people and claiming to need information about their account. And if that wasn’t tricky enough, scammers are spoofing the Better Business Bureau’s phone number to do ...

SAN FRANCISCO — A rapidly growing network of weather stations and high definition cameras across High-Fire Threat Districts provide Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) meteorologists and analysts, weather-watchers and first responders with detailed, real-time information that’s crucial during California’s wildfire season. So far in 2020, PG&E has added 300 weather stations and 137 fire watch cameras this year as it ...

by Ryan Abner, student journalist with Minarets Press It’s only human nature to want to look our best, but sometimes it can be difficult to look nice on video calls. Webcams aren’t exactly flattering, but why is this? Phone cameras have almost reached a professional level, and yet when we sign in for our Webex or Zoom meetings, the camera ...

CALIFORNIA – Oct. 10, 2020 – More than 13,800 firefighters continue to work towards containment on 21 major wildfires across the state. Several of the fires are over 95% contained and no growth is expected, yet full containment likely wouldn’t be reached until rainfall occurs. Yesterday, firefighters also responded to 19 new wildfires, quickly bringing full containment to all. Since ...

CALIFORNIA – Oct. 9, 2020 – More than 14,000 firefighters continue to work towards containment on 20 major wildfires across the state. Yesterday, firefighters also responded to 14 new wildfires, quickly bringing full containment to all. Since the beginning of the year, there have been over 8,400 wildfires that have burned well over 4 million acres in California. To date, the ...

MADERA COUNTY – Oct. 9, 2020 – North Zone – With mop-up nearly complete along the stretch of uncontained fireline around Little Shuteye Peak, crews have progressed to gridding the green fuels adjacent to those lines, looking for hidden sparks and embers smoldering. This activity indicates that the fireline north and south of Little Shuteye Peak is approaching containment status. ...

MADERA COUNTY MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES – Oct. 8, 2020 – The Madera County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) will be offering 3 more dates for mobile testing and flu vaccinations in the Madera County Mountain Communities. Friday Oct.9 at the Mountain Christian Center from 9am to 12 noon located at 40299 Hwy. 49, Oakhurst, CA. 93644 Thursday Oct.15 at the North Fork ...

MADERA COUNTY – Oct. 8, 2020 – Damage assessments are 98% complete leaving roughly 119 structures still threatened, 856 destroyed and 71 damaged. An interactive damage assessment map for Fresno County and Madera County is available: Fresno County Damage Assessment Map or https://bit.ly/3kxDyvI The Sierra National Forest will host an Incident Briefing Friday at 7pm via Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/SierraNF/ We ...

CALIFORNIA – Oct. 8, 2020 – More than 15,000 firefighters continue to work towards containment on 22 major wildfires across the state. Yesterday, firefighters also responded to 23 new wildfires, quickly bringing full containment to all. Since the beginning of the year, there have been over 8,400 wildfires that have burned well over 4 million acres in California. To date, ...