SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST — Volunteers are now being recruited for the season to serve as fire lookouts on Miami Mountain. Miami Lookout is a lookout tower located just east of Nippinawasee and is staffed throughout the fire season by Forest Service Volunteers. The tower is a great asset to our mountain community because it is located in a prime location ...

NORTH FORK — This morning at about 1:30 a.m., a car burst into flames in front of Jennie’s Garden Store, next to Bob McKee’s Hardware Store in downtown North Fork. McKee was notified by his alarm company and he raced down to the store. Upon arrival, he found that a car was fully engulfed in flames just under the overhang ...

OAKHURST — A fire that reportedly started in a travel trailer this evening was stopped before spreading to the home just feet away, thanks to the quick work of firefighters. Just before 9:45 p.m., crews were dispatched to an address in the 40800 block of Road 425A for reports of a microwave catching fire. Madera County Engine 12 and Water ...

Written by Maureen Walling — MADERA COUNTY — When disaster strikes, be it fire, accident or a medical emergency, we all count on our firefighters to be there in minutes to render aid. But what happens if the nearest fire station has no one available to respond? What if the station in your area is closed because there are no ...

COARSEGOLD — Firefighters were called out to a report of several fires along Highway 41 near the Black Hawk Lodge at approximately 1:44 p.m. today. First at scene was local Assemblyman Frank Bigelow, longtime volunteer firefighter out of O’Neals, with Madera County Engine 17 and Water Tender 17, reporting a small spot fire at one-quarter of an acre on the ...

CALIFORNIA — While the Broken Fire in Coarsegold is 100 percent contained, there are over 3,600 firefighters battling 10 major wildfires across California. Mild temperatures have given firefighters the opportunity to gain the upper hand on containing five large fires over the past couple of days. Temperatures will continue to remain below normal, but high winds and low humidity is ...

O’NEALS — A series of fires today kept emergency responders busy and closed down a portion of Highway 41 and a section of Road 206. Cal Fire Battalion Chief Chris Christopherson says a total of 14 fires broke out this morning along Highway 41, in what is being referred to as the Canal Fire incident. Just before 10 a.m., CHP ...

COARSEGOLD — The “Broken Fire,” so-named for its proximity to the long-closed Broken Bit Restaurant on Highway 41 north of Coarsegold, is now 80 percent contained at 103 acres as of 7 a.m. Tuesday. The fire broke out just before noon today on the Veater Ranch, threatening one home before the forward progress was stopped at about 3:20 p.m. Pre-evacuation ...

 O’NEALS — Crews responded to a vegetation fire today near the Blackhawk Lodge that threatened at least one structure and snarled traffic on a stretch of Highway 41 just north of Road 200. Firefighters were called out at 12:50 p.m. to the fire which was burning in grass and oak brush just adjacent to the southbound lane. The first engine ...

COARSEGOLD — Crews were called out to a report of a vegetation fire on Highway 41 at Road 417 just north of the Chevron Gas Station at 2:40 p.m. today. The first engine on scene reported the fire at about one acre, burning in grass. A wildland dispatch was called out including engines, water tenders, two air tankers, one helicopter, ...