NORTH FORK — Firefighters from the Rancheria Cal Fire Station in North Fork played a different kind of role in fire protection last Thursday when their sharp situational awareness headed off what could have led to disastrous results. Just after 12:30 p.m. Engine 4255 had made its way to the end of Duke Road just off Road 200 and was ...

NORTH FORK — Crews make good progress on the Fork Fire last night, completing dozer line around the entire perimeter, save a few spots that were too steep to access. In those small areas, hand line was dug to tie everything in. The fire was last estimated at just over 38 acres, and is now 40 percent contained. Though there ...

NORTH FORK — Just a few days after the one-year anniversary of the start of the Willow Fire, that scorched over 5,700 acres near North Fork last summer, residents were put on edge once again as a fast-moving fire threatened over 200 homes. Just before 6 p.m., reports began coming in of a structure fire in the Old Mill Housing ...

NORTH FORK — Just before 6 p.m. today crews were called out to reports of a structure fire that had spread into the vegetation on Road 225 in North Fork, where power lines are down. The three structures where the fire began have been lost and 200 structures are threatened. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for residents of the Mill Compound, Douglas Ranger Station, Cascadel Road, ...

NORTH FORK – The Tribal Council of the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians announced today that Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Lawrence Roberts has “issued Secretarial Procedures,” meaning that effective today, July 29, the Tribe can conduct Class III Gaming on their trust land located in the County of Madera. Though they are not ready ...

NORTH FORK — The North Fork Biomass Disposal Facility has now begun accepting hazard log biomass to help address the tree mortality issues in Madera County. On Friday, July 22, the Yosemite/Sequoia Resource Conservation and Development Council (Y/S RC&D Council) initiated the soft open of the facility at the North Fork Mill Site, which will store and process hazardous logs ...

CENTRAL SIERRA — Smoke from the Soberanes Fire burning in Monterey County is affecting air quality in locations throughout the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Sierra, warns the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Unusually high particulate matter and ozone levels throughout the area are prompting Air District officials to issue a health cautionary statement Valley-wide. The wildfires ...

MADERA COUNTY – Following are details from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office of reports taken locally from Sunday, July 17 to Sunday, July 24, 2016: Oakhurst vehicle vandalism On Sunday, July 17, at 8:23 a.m., a deputy was dispatched to the 43000 block of Road 415 regarding a vehicle which had been stripped of its car parts. A report was ...

SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST — “Tabletops to Domes” will be the focus of a guided tour along the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway on Saturday, July 30. Join geologist Tom Burdette in an informative tour and discussion of the geology of the Sierra Nevada as observed along the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway, sharing the amazing events that have led to the present ...

BASS LAKE — Madera County District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler will host the next in his series of Town Hall meetings on Thursday, Aug. 11, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Pines Resort in Bass Lake. Presentations will include Bass Lake District Ranger Denise Tolmie and Fuels Specialist Burt Stalter, Board Member of the Coarsegold Resource Conservation District Anne ...