Ferguson Fire Grows To Over 41,000 Acres, More Evacuations Today

MARIPOSA COUNTY – Once again a day on the Ferguson Fire was one of contrasts as some residents were allowed to return home and others were evacuated.

The fire grew to 41,576 acres, with much of the push on the southern perimeter. The fire is 26 percent contained.

Overnight, there were multiple spot fires across the dozer line above Lushmeadows on the southwest face of Kirby Peak. As of noon today, those spot fires had morphed into one that was about 350 acres.

The day started with the 5 a.m. evacuation of residents north of Triangle and East Westfall Roads. As the day progressed, and so did the fire, new evacuation orders were issued for the communities of Ponderosa Basin and Lushmeadows (see details below).

As crews got to work on the spot fires, more reports of slop-overs on the southern perimeter prompted “immediate need” call-outs for additional engines, crews and dozers.

With the southern breakout set as the priority for the day, all available resources focused their efforts there.

Though heavy helicopters were standing by ready to go by 7:30 a.m., dense smoke kept them grounded until late morning.

The heavy inversion served the purpose of keeping the fire activity moderated throughout the morning, and the fire continued to back down the mountain toward dozens of structures all day, but no structures were damaged or lost. Over 5,200 are currently threatened by the Ferguson Fire.

There was a little more fire activity later in the afternoon when the inversion lifted, but there were no winds to fan the flames.

At least half-a-dozen dozers cut line across the bottom of Kirby Ridge, helicopters and air tankers dropped water and retardant into the evening, and engines moved in to prep and provide structure protection for homes.

The very steep slopes are covered with dead snags making it much too dangerous for direct attack, so dozers cut lines along both flanks and across the base of the mountain, and firefighters are bringing the fire down the slope to them.

Sheriff’s deputies went door-to-door notifying residents of the evacuations and conducting heavy patrols, preventing anyone who shouldn’t be there from entering the closed areas.

In the Mariposa Pines area, the fireline to the north of that community is holding well, as is the one west across Sweetwater Ridge. Both were kept in check today and are looking really good, say fire officials. Evacuation orders for Jerseydale and Sweetwater Ridge Road were lifted this evening as of 6 p.m. (see details below).

Mariposa Pines was repopulated at 6 p.m. yesterday. Crews continue to strengthen and expand firelines and the situation is being closely monitored.

Shortly after noon today, power was lost to 1,627 customers in the area. As of this posting PG&E is reporting 1,103 homes without power. There is no solid estimate on when power may be restored.

On the Stanislaus National Forest north of the Merced River, crews continued working on the line up from the river to Kinsley Station and Montgomery Ridge and across to Pilot Peak. The dozer line is complete from Five Corners to Pilot Peak. They are utilizing the burn scar of the Rim Fire to help build the “big box,” continuing down to Buena Vista. The line from El Portal up the park boundary is complete.

South and east of El Portal, crews initiated firing operations yesterday at about 2 p.m. and burned down to the Barrel Spring area near Cathewood Saddle. Firefighters have about 500 feet of depth to that fireline now.

Fire managers say they will not progress any further until they’ve achieved their main priority of getting that part of the fire boxed off, and conduct firing operations down the ridge to remove fuels that may threaten El Portal. Once that work is complete, they will continue east.

Inside the park, crews and equipment are now able to move quickly and safely, as all visitors were required to leave by noon today and the south gate has been closed to the public.

Resources are working to tie the Empire and the South Fork Fires together so that if the fire does progress that far east, planners will have opportunities to utilizes those recent burn scars to their advantage.

The fireline is complete around the community of Wawona and hose lays are in, and all the structures have been assessed.

As prep work and structure protection continues in Yosemite West, crews completed the handline coming out of Wawona Campground and hose lays are in place. It’s tied in to the dozer line that runs west to Jerseydale, and crews continue to clean up that line, dropping hazard trees and making the line wider where needed.

To give a bit of the scope and complexity of this fire, during every briefing, morning and evening, an Incident Action Plan (IAP) is distributed along with a map of the fire that covers the “big box” – that includes the fire’s perimeter and all the areas that are part of the plan but may not have fire on the ground as of yet (and may never).

On day one, there was the IAP, and there was a map – on one sheet of paper. This evening’s IAP map was 35 pages. Big pages.

If a section of land is one square mile, each page represents an area nearly 5 miles wide and 4 miles deep.