NORTH FORK – Back in the day, we called it Fire Camp. These days, it’s known as the Incident Command Post (ICP). Whatever you call it, it’s where everything happens that supports boots on the ground out on the firelines, and where all decisions are made in fighting the fire. If you’ve never visited an ICP, it’s quite an impressive ...

OAKHURST – Slim’s Koffee Shak, a home-grown mountain bistro, has been a vital part of North Fork for several years, serving up fresh food, much of it from local sources. Now owner Scott Marsh is opening a second location in Oakhurst at 40879 Highway 41, in the storefront where The Grind coffee shop once lived in the Silver Creek Center. ...

Clovis, CA – December 23, 2014. We arrived at the Sierra Emergency Command Center (ECC) to greet a relaxed Hippy Mike, aka Mike Walsh, in the break room fixing up a pot of coffee. He guided us back to Forest Service control room with rows and panels of computer monitors and banks of equipment which included an enhanced “911” system, ...

OAKHURST – Since I hadn’t really left the house since Monday when the fire broke out, this seemed like a good day to drop my no-school-today teenager at the movies and drive north to see what was happening in the aftermath of the Junction Fire, a beast that screamed through Oakhurst with a rate of speed and intensity that had ...

NORTH FORK – It takes a village to support hundreds of firefighters battling thousands of acres of scorching flames, and that’s what has sprung up, literally overnight, at the Old Mill Site in North Fork. Nearly 1,700 firefighters, support staff, overhead and contractors are staged on the 135-acre compound managed by the North Fork Community Development Council, effectively doubling the ...

COARSEGOLD – If you love engines, or shiny things, or both – it’s time to rev up, because registration is open for the Coarsegold Classic Car Show. Whether you enter the show with your favorite wheeled obsession or just save the date on your calendar, it’s set for Saturday, June 14. The car spectacular takes place on the green at ...

OAKHURST – The Oakhurst Community Christmas Tree Lighting is set for Saturday, Dec. 7, with festivities starting at 5 p.m., at Dtton’s Talking Bear Corner at the junction of Hwy 41 and Road 426. The public is invited to attend this free, fun evening. It’s a delightful way for friends, families and neighbors to celebrate the onset of the holidays ...

HUNTINGTON LAKE – So what do you do when you have over 2,000 people, all working on a dangerous, complex and widely dispersed project, and you need centralized organization and coordination? You build a city, of course. The Incident Command Post (ICP) for the Aspen Fire is exactly that, a tiny city spread across what is generally the parking lot ...

MADERA COUNTY – A banquet room filled with the sworn personnel and volunteers who make up Madera County Sheriff’s Office’s nationally recognized Citizens on Patrol (COP), paid tribute to a veteran volunteer on Wednesday, July 17. COP Everett Macy – radio ID V3 – was honored for more than a decade of service to the Madera County Sheriff’s Office. Macy’s ...

BASS LAKE – It was a perfect day on the lake for the annual Spring Clean, as dozens of volunteers turned out to help spruce up the roadsides, trails and shorelines ahead of the summer season. On Saturday, May 11, families and youth groups, anglers and hikers, people of all ages gathered at Recreation Point to check in and pick ...