NEW MI WUK SUGAR PINE FIRE CHIEF (from mymotherlode.com), Sept 15, 2013

As reported a few days ago by your intrepid local reporter, the Mi Wuk Sugar Pine Fire Protection District has a new chief.  Below is this morning's article from MyMotherlode.com

 

September 15, 2013    06:00 am   Tracey Petersen, MML News Reporter

Mi-Wuk Village, CA -- The interim Fire Chief takes the position full time. The Board of Directors of the Mi-Wuk Sugar Pine Fire Protection (District) hired Larry Crabtree to fill the vacant Fire Chief position at their board meeting this (past) week. That post was opened after Chief Randy Miller resigned in May of 2013 amid an investigation into a complaint. Crabtree says his top priorities are to get more staff, volunteers and new resources.

"The newest fire engine in our fleet is 26 years old. We are leasing one from Tuolumne County for a nominal fee, but it's not our engine and it was made in 1996. So even with that one, we are going to be in dire need of a newer one," said Crabtree. The new fire chief is looking into used engines to try to keep the price down.

Crabtree has over 33 years of experience in fire service. He served as a volunteer firefighter for a variety of departments beginning with the Upper Lake Volunteer Fire Department in 1970, and ending with his retirement from Cal Fire in 2006.

"Chief Crabtree is exactly what our community needs in a fire chief at this time." said Board President Chuck Wagner. "The skill set that he brings to the job is already bearing fruit as we all witnessed with the community meetings in Mi Wuk Village during the Rim Fire. There are more good things to come."

Crabtree has signed a five year agreement with a beginning salary of $42,000 and the last year of the contract paying $52,000.

RIM FIRE UPDATE, 22 minutes ago, September 14, 2013 - InciWeb.org

INCIDENT UPDATED 22 MIN. AGO

Approximate Location   37.857 latitude, -120.086 longitude

Special Road Update
Tioga Pass Road (Hwy 120 east) across Yosemite National Park to Tuolumne Meadows and Lee Vining (Hwy 395) opened at noon today. For safety visitors are not permitted to stop along the road adjacent the fire perimeter.

Fire Update
Today fire resources held and improved containment lines. Pockets of vegetation continued to burn within the fire’s interior. Tonight crews will continue to patrol mop-up and monitor the fire perimeter.

Public Safety
Anyone traveling on roads within the fire area should use extreme caution as fire personnel and equipment continue to work in the area. Hazards include smoke weakened trees (that may fall) and hot burning stump holes. If you must drive through the fire area please do not stop leave the roadway or enter the burned area on foot.

Park and Forest Closures
Tamarack Flat Yosemite Creek and White Wolf Campgrounds and White Wolf Lodge along Tioga Road remain closed. The Stanislaus National Forest issued an updated Rim Fire Area Closure (dated September 12 2013) for the Groveland and Mi-Wok Ranger Districts. Additional information is available from the Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor's Office 209-532-3671; Mi-Wok Ranger Station 209-586-3234; Summit Ranger Station 209-965-3434; and Groveland Ranger Station 209-962-7825.

Road Openings
Evergreen Road is open to Evergreen Lodge. Hwy 120 is open. The Big Oak Flat Road is open to Yosemite Valley. Local businesses are open and providing services (gasoline, food and lodging) for travelers.

Road Closures
Cherry Lake Road is closed at Hwy 120. Old Yosemite and Hardin Flat Roads are closed. Some secondary roads within the fire area remain closed to non-residents.   From Blythe:  I understand that some of these roads need repairs before they can be reopened to the public.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Under Investigation
Date of Origin	Saturday August 17th, 2013 approx. 03:15 PM
Location	Groveland Range District, Stanislaus NF
Incident Commander	Mcgowan

Current Situation

Total Personnel	1,935
Size	255,858 acres
Percent Contained	81%  -- it's beginning to go up.....
Estimated Containment Date	Friday September 20th, 2013 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	Brush, Oaks, and Pine, conifer stands
Fire Behavior	Fire behavior consisted of surface fire with isolated torching in the north and northeast areas of the fire. Creeping and smoldering observed in other areas of the fire.
Significant Events	State Route 120 (Tioga Pass Road) was reopened to the public at noon today.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Resources will continue to patrol along the fire perimeter during the evening hours.
Growth Potential	High
Terrain Difficulty	Extreme
Remarks	O-Shaughnessey and Aspen Valley continue to be closed to public access due to a lack of power and ongoing mitigations of hazards caused by the fire. Progress is being made to mitigate these hazards and restore power. Small contingents of employees from Hetch Hetchy Power and Water have been allowed back into Mather. The pockets of unburned fuel within the perimeter of the fire area continue to consume. The Hodgdon Meadow Campground, Hodgdon Meadow residential area, Carlon Falls Trailhead, Merced Grove, Tuolumne Grove, the Crane Flat Lookout, and wilderness areas remain closed. The Big Oak Road is open from Crane Flat to Yosemite Valley. Facilities and areas along the Tioga Road west of Lukens Lake Trailhead are closed, including Tamarack Flat, White Wolf and Yosemite Creek Campgrounds, and White Wolf Lodge. Evergreen Road has been opened to Evergreen Lodge, but remains closed from there on. Old Yosemite Road, Harden, and the Cherry Creek Road remain closed. A forest closure order is in effect for locations within and proximate to the fire area. Resources continue to monitor the fire as it slowly spreads within the Yosemite Wilderness north and northeast of Lake Eleanor where fuels are limited and large natural rock barriers are abundant. Damage assessments of destroyed or damaged structures, infrastructure, and developments interior of the containment lines continues as interior fire activity subsides. Fire Suppression Repair completed to date: 31 miles of dozer line; 2 miles of handline; 36 miles of chipping along roads; and 14 miles of road repair.

Current Weather

Wind Conditions	20 mph NW
Temperature	88 degrees
Humidity	25%

Be safe everyone..........

 

STANISLAUS NATIONAL FOREST CLOSURE ORDER, Sept. 12, 2013

Stanislaus National Forest Closure Order September 12, 2013

Incident: Rim Fire Wildfire
Released: 2 days ago

Order No. STF 2013-11 Rim Fire Closure Stanislaus National Forest was signed and goes into effect tonight at Midnight see the attachments for the order and revised map.

.............."The Stanislaus Forest closure area includes the Forest Land within the Mi-Wok Rancher District, SouthWest of Hwy 108."  

To read the entire document you can go to http://www.inciweb.org/incident/article/3660/21494/ 

You are looking for RELATED INFORMATION, Closure order 1 of 2 and page 2 of 2.  The map above is also in that block of information.

HWY. 120 REOPENED TODAY, September 14th 1:10 p.m.

September 14, 2013    01:10 pm   Tracey Petersen, MML News Reporter 

 

Yosemite, CA -- Traffic is being allowed to travel down Tioga Road once again. Yosemite National Park Officials reopened Highway 120 to all vehicles at Noon today.

The roadway was closed due to the Rim Fire. It had been shutdown from Crane Flat Road to White Wolf Road within the Park. Motorists can drive to the Yosemite Valley from Highway 395 via Highway 120.

 August 30th photo (above)

 (August 26th photo, above)

Park Officials say, due to fire activity in the area, stopping along the roadway is strictly prohibited.

They warn the public to use extreme caution as firefighting activities continue in the area and visibility may be reduced due to smoke.

RIM FIRE COST UP TO $107.8 September 13, 2013

September 13, 2013    09:16 am   B.J. Hansen, MML News Director 

 

Tuolumne County, CA -- The Incident Command says the cost to battle the Rim Fire is up to $107.8 million.

At the morning briefing officials stated that it is still 255,858 acres and 80% contained. 11 homes have been destroyed, 98 outbuildings and three commercial buildings. 2,572 firefighters are on scene today.

* * * * *

9:00 a.m. from InciWeb.org.

Fire Update
Last night fire resources were patrolling the fire looking for hotspots and continuing to hold and improve containment lines. Today crews will continue to patrol mop-up and monitor all areas along the fire perimeter. Hot and dry weather will provide conditions for continued fire spread in the Yosemite Wilderness north of Hetch Hetchy Wilderness. Unburned vegetation is expected to burn within the containment lines especially west of Harden Lake Harden Lake Road and southeast of Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Suppression repair continues on fire containment lines.

Public Safety
Anyone traveling on roads within the fire area should use extreme caution. Fire personnel and equipment continue to work in the area. Hazards include smoke weakened trees (that may fall) and hot burning stump holes. If you must drive through the fire area please do not stop leave the roadway or enter the burned area on foot.

Park and Forest Closures
Yosemite National Park has closed Tamarack Flat and Yosemite Creek Campgrounds both located along Tioga Road. White Wolf Campground and White Wolf Lodge remain closed. The Stanislaus National Forest issued an updated (September 12 2013) Rim Fire Closure for the Groveland and Mi-Wok Ranger Districts. Additional information is available from the Stanislaus Forest Supervisor's Office 209-532-3671; Mi-Wok Ranger Station (209) 586-3234; Summit Ranger Station 209-965-3434; and Groveland Ranger Station 209-962-7825.

Road Openings
Evergreen Road is opened to Evergreen Lodge. State Hwy 120 is open to Crane Flat. The Big Oak Flat Road is open from Crane Flat to Yosemite Valley. Businesses are open and providing services (gasoline food and lodging) for travelers.

Road Closures
State Route 120 (Tioga Road) remains closed from Crane Flat to 1 ó miles east of White Wolf. Park visitors can access Tuolumne Meadows from SR-395 via the park entrance at Tioga Pass. Cherry Lake Road is closed at State Route 120. Evergreen Road Old Yosemite Road and Hardin Flat Road are closed. Some secondary roads within the fire area remain closed to non-residents.

For more information or if you have questions please contact the Rim Fire at 805-727-4775. If you have questions about Yosemite National Park call 209-372-0327 or 209-372-0329. Updated information is also available at http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3660/. All media are requested to report to the Incident Command Post to check in with Public Information Officers.

Current Weather

Wind Conditions	20 mph NE
Temperature	70 degrees
Humidity	35%

(Have a safe Friday the 13th!)

ROAD DAMAGE FROM THE RIM FIRE or WHY SOME ROADS ARE STILL CLOSED

September 12, 2013    06:00 am   Mark Truppner, MML Reporter 

 

Some Tuolumne County roads sustained damage due to the Rim Fire.

Duke York, Deputy Director of Tuolumne County Roads was Thursday's KVML "Newsmaker of the Day". He was joined by Darrin Grossi, Executive Director of the Tuolumne County Transportation Council.

Roads that were in the immediate area of the Rim Fire include Evergreen Road, Buchanan Road, Harden Flat and Ferretti Road, Aspen Valley, Kings Road, Clements Road, Golden Arrow and Fish Hatchery.
According to York, some of these roads remain closed and will not be open for quite some time.
Engineers and county road crews are assessing the damage to the surface of the road, ditches, guardrails, smashed culverts and other items.

When winter arrives, some of the creeks, streams and rivers could have a major impact to some of these local roads due to soil damage from the fire.

The dead trees near road sides, that could easily fall during winter weather, will not help matters either.

Grossi stresses the Yosemite Area Regional Transit System (YARTS) has resumed service for the next couple of weeks.   Grossi says, "Over all the twice a day YARTS service (public bus rides from various Tuolumne County locations to Yosemite National Park) is doing pretty well. As long as we have ridership, we will continue to provide the service through the end of the month. For more information click http://www.yarts.com ."

* * * * *
FROM APPROXIMATELY 6:45 A.M.:

Current Situation

Total Personnel	2,764
Size	255,560 acres
Percent Contained	80%
Estimated Containment Date	Friday September 20th, 2013 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	Brush, Oaks, and Pine, conifer stands
Fire Behavior	Fire behavior consisted of surface fire with slow rates of spread in the north and northeast areas of the fire. In the remaining areas of the fire creeping and smoldering were observed.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Resources will continue to patrol, mop-up, and monitor all areas of the fire in addition to patrolling the developed areas interior of the fire perimeter and those adjacent to the fire area. Implementation of the Suppression Repair Plan will continue.
Growth Potential	High
Terrain Difficulty	Extreme Current Weather Wind Conditions 15 mph NE Temperature 50 degrees Humidity 35%

RIM FIRE UPDATE: Sept. 11th, 7:45 p.m.

September 11, 2013    07:45 pm   Tracey Petersen, MML News Reporter 

 

Tuolumne County, CA - The Incident Command says a lot of areas in the perimeter are cold and cooler temperatures are helping firefighters. Tonight's temperatures will be in the 50's.

The fire has grown about 400 acres to 255,560 or 399 square miles and is still 80% contained. The number of firefighters went up slightly to 2,764,  due to a shift change. The cost is now $105 million.

Incident Command Spokesperson Michelle Jimeneza-Holtz says, "Firefighters continued repairing and mop up the northwest and south perimeters. In a lot of areas, the ground is cold now so that is awesome. They are going to continue to do some repair and rehab tonight."

Fire Officials say today's fire behavior was minimal to moderate in interior areas that have been contained for over a week. The fire is still active inside of the containment lines in the Clavey River, Reynolds Creek and Jawbone Creek drainages as well as to the west of Harden Lake, Harden Road and Tioga Road.

Incident Command expects moderate fire spread to the northeast into Yosemite Wilderness areas north of Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Also, Jimeneza-Holtz says we could see more smoke the next couple of days as a cold front from the north will cause the winds to shift to the northwest.

* * * * *

Current Weather

Wind Conditions	7 mph E
Temperature	60 degrees
Humidity	30%