MADERA COUNTY – A Coarsegold couple was back in court yesterday for their preliminary hearing on charges of arson and conspiracy. Kenneth Jackson, 40, and Allison Waterman, 46, both of Yosemite Lakes Park, were arrested on June 25 in connection with a string of suspicious fires in the Coarsegold/YLP area.

TUOLUMNE COUNTY – Investigators from the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement & Investigations and Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office have determined cause of the Rim Fire. The fire, which began on Aug. 17 on the Stanislaus Nation Forest near the area known as Jawbone Ridge, has been determined to have started when a hunter allowed an illegal fire to escape.

TUOLUMNE COUNTY – The Rim Fire is now 80% contained, and personnel assigned to the incident has been drawn down by nearly 1,000. Effective at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 3, the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office has lifted all evacuation advisories county-wide. This includes North Tuolumne Road, Ponderosa Hills, and the south side of Highway 108 from the North Tuolumne Road ...

TUOLUMNE COUNTY – Fighting the Rim Fire has been a costly effort, but the communities, infrastructure and natural resources saved have proven the success of the joint leadership team directing the effort, said Southern Area Blue Team Incident Commander Mike Wilkins. “The cost of the fire is huge,” said Wilkins. “We’ve spent a significant amount of money,

TUOLUMNE COUNTY – Firefighters are gaining the upper hand on the Rim Fire, with 70% containment of the blaze that has now grown to 235,841 acres. The estimated date for total containment is Sept. 20. A bit of very light precipitation on the fire today helped to calm the fire activity a little, but it was reported to be in ...

TUOLUMNE COUNTY – Firefighters have gained some ground on the Rim Fire, achieving 60% containment of the 228,670 acre blaze. Click here for a map of the completed fireline. After several days of dense smoke throughout our area and the San Joaquin Valley, a shift in the winds back to a southwesterly flow has cleared the air and blue skies ...

Where can you go to escape the hot weather and smoky, hazy skies? How about a nice hike to clear blue alpine lakes with giant granite slabs surrounding them in the nearby Kaiser Wilderness?

TWAIN HARTE – A YouTube video is causing quite a stir over the cause of the now 219,277 acre Rim Fire that has been ripping through Tuolumne and Mariposa Counties, and Yosemite National Park for the past two weeks. Todd McNeal, Twain Harte Fire Chief and Division Group Supervisor on the Rim Fire, addressed a community meeting last week, where ...

TUOLUMNE COUNTY – Some residents are being allowed to return home near the 201,894 acre Rim Fire. The fire now covers some 315 square miles and is 32% contained. The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday lifted the evacuation advisory for Tuolumne City, Soulsbyville and Willow Springs.

TUOLUMNE COUNTY – As the Rim Fire scorches 192,737 acres in Tuolumne and Mariposa Counties and into western boundary of Yosemite National Park, firefighters have now completed line around 30% of the fire. Of the 111 structures destroyed in the massive fire, 11 were residences, 3 were commercial properties and 97 are classified as outbuildings. About 4,500 are still considered ...