Sierra National Forest continues with the winter/spring prescribed burning on the Bass Lake Ranger District Mountain Communities — The Sierra National Forest (SNF) will continue prescribed burning within the Bass Lake Ranger District, beginning Tuesday, February 15th thru Sunday, February 20th as weather and air quality is optimal to start ignitions. These treatments will consist of understory burning removing fuels ...

Mountain Communities –  With  Valentine’s Day festivities taking place next week, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) reminds customers that nothing puts a damper on a romantic evening faster than a widespread power outage.  If your holiday celebration includes metallic balloons, make sure they are securely tied with a weight to keep them from floating away. Metallic balloons that contact ...

As More Cameras, Weather Stations and Grid Devices Were Installed, Re-engineered Circuit Settings Cut Ignitions. The Path Begins to Put 10,000 Miles of Powerlines Underground Mountain Communities — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) reached major milestones in 2021 in reducing the risk of wildfires to improve the safety of the electric system. The safety work was a part of ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY – The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will perform various operations on State Routes 49, 132 and 140 next week in Mariposa County. Work is scheduled to be performed as follows: Route 49 – Single-lane closure at various locations from the Mariposa/Madera County Line to Route 140 for sweeping operations beginning Monday, February 14, through Friday, February 18, ...

MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES — While the National Football League’s top two teams are preparing to battle it out on the field this weekend, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is making its game plan to keep the motoring public safe long after the celebrations have ended. Millions of people will watch the Super Bowl this year, with some attending parties and others ...

This is the first in a series of articles SNO will be doing called “Wildfire Wednesday.” To begin, there will be 8 articles presenting “The 12 Step Guide to Help Plan in Advance for Evacuation.” This guide was put together by Katie Hepler and the members of the California Fire Support Group on Facebook. The California Fire Support Group is ...

Nature of Wildworks is new to Coarsegold, having purchased land and moved there in Oct. 2021, the organization had a home in Topanga Canyon in Southern California for more than 25 years. Fires, changing times, and zoning issues changed all that and caused Los Angeles County to require them to move.  COARSEGOLD — There’s a new guy in town. His ...

MARIPOSA & MERCED COUNTIES — Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, two search warrants were served by the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Department in Merced County in relation to a smash-and-grab burglary that had taken place the day before. One of the search warrants was served in Planada and the other in Le Grand, both in Merced County. As a result, Jesus Moreno ...

Just a pretty blue sky day to get out on nearby dirt roads up to the Lone Sequoia for some exercise. Then those little white puffy clouds started showing up . . . Where: Sierra National ForestDistance: 11.14 Miles (but you can go shorter or longer)Difficulty: Easy to ModerateElevation Range: 3,417′ to 4,427′Elevation Gain: 1,135′Date: January 25, 2022CALTOPO: Hiking From ...

MADERA COUNTY — On Feb. 2, 2022, the Merced Communications Center (MCC) received a call reporting a motor vehicle accident on State Route 41 just south of Road 406 in Madera County. A vehicle was reportedly overturned off the roadway and California Highway Patrol Madera area units were dispatched to investigate and establish incident command. According to the Report of ...