MARIPOSA COUNTY — The Detwiler Fire is now estimated at 48,000 acres, still at 7 percent containment. There have been 29 structures destroyed and 5 damaged. Another 1,500 are threatened. There are currently 3,175 personnel assigned to the incident including 413 engines, 57 water tenders, 56 hand crews, 70 dozers, 14 helicopters and an unknown number of air tankers. Today, ...

OAKHURST — Over 300 people gathered at the Mountain Christian Center tonight to hear from Cal Fire, the Incident Management Team and the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office, anxious to have their fears assuaged about what’s happening with the homes they evacuated in Mariposa County as the Detwiler Fire continues to burn. With so many different agencies now cooperating on the ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY —  There will be a community meeting on the Detwiler Fire at 7 p.m. tonight, July 19, at the Mountain Christian Center, 40299 Highway 49 in Oakhurst. The meeting will be hosted by Cal Fire Incident Management Team 4, the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office, and additional cooperating agencies on the Detwiler Fire. Representatives from the agencies managing the ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY — The Detwiler Fire continues to threaten the town of Mariposa, and is advancing on Coulterville as it grows past the nearly 46,000-acre estimate given this morning by Cal Fire. Though conditions change by the minute, we try to bring you a picture of how the day is unfolding on the firelines. Cal Fire officials say that with ...

MADERA COUNTY — After less than three years behind bars, Kenneth Jackson, who was convicted in 2014 of setting dozens of fires in the Yosemite Lakes Park area, has been referred to the Board of Parole Hearings for a parole review. Jackson, now 44, of Coarsegold, was convicted on May 1, 2014, of 21 counts of arson and 1 count ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY — The Detwiler Fire did not “lay down” overnight and give firefighters the chance to make substantial progress. Instead it blew up to over 45,000 acres with only 7 percent containment, so the day shift had their work cut out for them. Shortly after 8 a.m., the fire made a hard push toward Coulterville and Greeley Hill on ...

CENTRAL SIERRA – With the ominous threat of the Detwiler Fire, attention to wildland firefighting has been heightened for many residents in the foothills and mountain area. We all see the engines, dozers, water tenders and crews rolling in to fight these fires, but perhaps the most spectacular sight from any vantage point the public may have is the work ...

O’NEALS — Firefighters responded to a vegetation fire in O’Neals up behind the Ponderosa Telephone Company this morning. Just before 8:30 a.m., reports came in of a fire off Road 200 near Lilly Mine Way. The first unit at scene reported the fire at about five acres, burning in open grass land with a moderate rate of spread. Nine engines, ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY — Firefighters worked throughout the night to slow the progress of the Detwiler Fire, now estimated at 45,724 acres with just 7 percent containment. More than 10,000 people are currently without power, and thousands have been evacuated. Firefighters are focusing their efforts on protecting the town of Mariposa. The fire has jumped the Merced River near the Bagby ...

MARIPOSA — With fire officials struggling for enough resources to adequately fight the Detwiler Fire now threatening Mariposa, one may wonder why there aren’t more VLATs (Very Large Air Tankers) available to knock this thing down. On July 17, CBSNews posted the following story about a massive firefighting aircraft  — a converted Boeing 747 jet, nicknamed the SuperTanker — and ...