• Acres Burned: 1200
• Containment: 1,200 acres – 35% contained.
  Full containment expected on Sunday 3/20
• Structures Destroyed: Estimated 19 residences damaged or destroyed
  100 more are still threatened
• Evacuations: Mandatory evacuations are in place at the following areas:
  • Everything west of West St in Big Pine
  • All other evacuations have been lifted
  • Evacuation centers have been set up at the Big Pine High School and Big Pine Indian Reservation gym.
• Cause: Under investigation
• Conditions: Yesterday the fire grew rapidly as it was fanned by extremely strong winds, but last night and this morning the winds have diminished and the area has received light rain.
  Highway 395 is back open in both directions.
  The public can call 760-937-1686 to locate displaced residents.

For more information visit this link at CalFire: http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=482

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More high winds are forecast today in the Owens Valley. A Wind Advisory and High Wind Watch are currently issued for the area. The storm that’s moving into the Sierra Nevada today will bring a 30% chance of rain to the valley. Hopefully humidity levels will go up and help the firefighters fighting this blaze.

Here is some video that was posted on YouTube showing the fire burning from Hwy 395.

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Bull Fire: Over 2,000 firefighters, along with a helicopters and air tankers, have been making outstanding progress containing the Bull Fire. As of this morning, July 29th, 16,074 acres have burned. The fire is twelve percent contained. No evacuations are in place, as residents of Riverkern were allowed back into their homes Wednesday morning. Mountain Highway 99 remains closed along the Kern River at Headquarters Campground, north of Kernville, and an area closure has been implemented for the fire area.

More info on the Bull Fire

Mono Fire: The Mono Fire is burning in the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area of the Inyo National Forest. It is burning in between US 395 and the north end of the Mono Craters, south of Highway 120 East. The fire is currently 1200 acres. The cause of the fire has been determined to be lightning.

Highway 120 East, Test Station Road and the day use areas at South Tufa and Navy Beach have been re-opened to the public. Please use caution when traveling through the area as many emergency vehicles are still parked along the edge of the road.

More info on the Mono Fire

• Evacuations on Burma Road in Kernville (off Burlando Road) and evacuations of the community of Riverkern.
• Roads Closures: Mt. 99 closed from Kernville, to Brush Creek Flat.(Approximately 18 miles).

The Mono Fire also grew yesterday and is now at 1000 acres. It is 20% contained. It’s burning in the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area of the Inyo National Forest. It is burning in between US 395 and the north end of the Mono Craters, south of Highway 120 East.

• Highway 120 East is currently closed, as are Test Station Road, the day use areas at South Tufa and Navy Beach on the shores of Mono Lake.

For the most up to date information on these fires, including maps and photos,
Visit the CA page on InciWeb.org

For the latest info on this fire, visit it’s page on the Inciweb site: Bull Fire on Inciweb

This is from the Sierra Wave web site:

At about 3:45 Tuesday afternoon, firefighters were called out to the Bishop Creek area to respond to a wildfire. With dark clouds and lightning strikes in the area, this fire was burning in sage brush and pinyon pines above the four Jeffrey Campground on Bishop Creek.

Winds pushed what fire fighters are calling the Big Trees fire across the steep hillside, igniting the pinyon pines, and sending a large often black smoke cloud into the sky. Fire Fighters from Cal Fire, the Forest Service BLM, Bishop Fire, and Wheeler Crest Fire, along with others responded. The initial report listed the fire at five to ten acres.

Shortly after the fire started, air resources were called in. At least two SEAT planes could be seen dropping retardant on the downhill side of the fire. A larger P2V tanker was working the area as well. While the planes were re-loading in Bishop, a helicopter was dropping water on hot spots, again on the downhill side toward the Four Jeffrey Campground.

Terrain, and perhaps the brief but heavy rain may be helping the fire fighters. As the fire spread around a ridge, there was a steep rocky stretch that appeared to slow the fire. One report heard on the scanner at 6:30 appeared to indicated that firefighters had halted the rate the fire was spreading.

There have also been reports of spot fires east of the main fire. Five handcrews and six engines have

No anticipated growth unless a significant event occurs. Interior islands continue to experience significant fire behavior with no direct threat to the primary containment lines. Concerns still remain in the northeastern portion of the fire. Fire suppression repair is ongoing. Significant demobilization of resources is in progress.

Highway 140 subject to brief traffic delays, north of Midpines and south of El Portal. For the latest highway conditions visit Caltrans.

The incident will have a North operations area (Incident Command Team # 6) and a South operations area (Incident Command Team #8).

Download the latest fact sheet

Click Here to view a map of the fire

Telegraph Fire Photos

Here is the latest on the fire:

Telegraph (Merced-Mariposa Unit, Cal Fire): 32,063 acres at 20 percent contained. This fire is five miles north of Mariposa. Communites, communication facilities, power lines, and water supply systems are threatened. Evacuations and road closures are in effect.
Information: Call (209) 966-4784 or (209) 966-4785 or visit the web site. Evacuation Hotline: (209) 966-1133 (recorded)

Location: Telegraph Road and Sherlock Road in the Midpines Area.

Acres Burned: 29,600 acres

Containment: 10% contained

Structures Threatened: 4,000 residences in the communities of Midpines, Briceburg, Mariposa, Greenley Hill, Coulterville, Bear Valley, and Mt. Bullion Camp

Structures Destroyed: 25 Residences and 27 Outbuildings

Evacuations: Mandatory Evacuations
Various roads between Mariposa, Midpines and Greeley Hill.
As of 5 p.m. the following roads are in the evacuation area: Texas Hill Rd., Dogtown Rd from Texas Hill Rd to Schilling Rd., Schilling Rd to Hwy 49N, Michaeloaks Rd. with road closure beginning at Hwy 49N

Evacuation Warnings
Parts of the communities of Mariposa, Midpines, Greeley Hill, Coulterville, and Briceburg.

Evacuation Center:
Mariposa Elementary School
5044 Jones St, Mariposa

Cause: Human (Target Shooting)

Resources Committed : 3,458 Personnel (1,766 CAL FIRE)
408 Fire Engines
71 Hand Crews
59 Dozers
30 Watertenders
13 Helicopters

Conditions:

The fire is burning in the Merced River Drainage, on both sides of the river. The fire is burning with a rapid rate of spread in multiple directions. Accessibility problems due to steep and rocky terrain.

Active fire behavior is being observed in all directions primarily on the south and east flanks.

The fire is causing partial and complete closures of Hwy 140 leading to the main entrance to Yosemite National Park. For the latest highway conditions visit Caltrans.

CAL FIRE Incident Command Team #8 is in command of the fire.

Click Here to view a map of the fire

The Telegraph Fire (21,360 acres) is burning in the Merced-Mariposa Unit five miles north of Mariposa and to the west of Yosemite National Park. Though the fire is not burning in the park, it is having some impacts. Here are relevant excerpts from a story on the fire that appears in today’s Modesto Bee:

“A fast-moving wildfire near Yosemite National Park claimed 12 homes and prompted hundreds more evacuations Sunday, as hundreds of firefighters struggled to keep the fire from engulfing nearby communities. Fire crews had built containment lines around 16 percent of the more than 26,000-acre fire by Sunday afternoon, but by late Sunday night containment was down to 10 percent.

“Still, fire officials ordered additional evacuations of about 430 homes in the Greeley Hill area, in the Mykleoaks subdivision, and along Whitlock Road, French Camp Road and Grosjean Road, said Rick Benson, Mariposa County administrative officer. On Saturday, about 170 homes in the Midpines area were evacuated.

“The Telegraph fire, yet another in an already deadly California fire season, continued to threaten nearly 2,000 homes in the Mariposa County foothills that serve as Yosemite’s western gateway. In Mariposa, where the fire crept within two miles, hospital officials prepared to evacuate 29 patients to valley hospitals or have firefighters surround the hospital to defend it if flames get close.

“In Yosemite, hotels and restaurants got by on generators after power lines to Yosemite Valley were shut down because of the potential risk to firefighters working beneath the wires…

“When Pacific Gas & Electric Co. might restore power to Yosemite Valley remained unclear Sunday afternoon. The transmission line that fed power to Yosemite was destroyed in the fire Saturday…

“Still, visitors continued to enter the park Sunday, though Yosemite Park Ranger Julie Chavez did not have any numbers. On a typical summer day, about 18,000 visitors come into the park, she said. Some campers were leaving because of the fire, but Chavez said it was not a mass exodus. ‘There is more space available than we usually have this time of season because of the smoke.’”

Here are a couple of other links I found about the fire.

CBS 47 News: Telegraph Fire Grows at Rapid Pace This link includes video of the fire.

ABC 30 News: What’s Fueling  the Telegraph Fire This also includes video.