Oak Fire update: Wildfire grows little as fire crews reinforce containment lines
UPDATE: Cal Fire announced Saturday night that there are no uncontrolled fire growths to the Oak Fire, which has been burning just beyond Yosemite National Park.
In fact, the Oak Fire grew by just four acres from Saturday morning to the evening, now at 19,244 acres. Containment, meanwhile, improved by seven percentage points and is now 59% contained.
There have been 116 single resident structures destroyed and 66 outbuildings destroyed, and six structures damaged. No fire fighters have been injured.
ORIGINAL STORY: Crews battling the Oak Fire in Mariposa County continued to gain an upper hand Saturday in what is the largest wildfire in California this year.
Containment was listed at 52% in the Saturday morning report from Cal Fire, signaling half the fight is over. Full containment was expected by Aug. 6.
The fire that started a week ago near Yosemite National Park has burned 19,240 acres, up 19 from Friday evening’s Cal Fire report. On Saturday, fire crews focused on establishing a fire line in a steep area known as Devil’s Gulch.
The fire has destroyed 109 homes and 59 outbuildings. Another 585 structures remain threatened.
Cal Fire public information officer Remberto Aguirre said that other than the Devil’s Gulch area, there was little to no growth in other areas of the fire.
“The firefighters are doing a great job,” Aguirre said.
Crews from Pacific Gas & Electric are also working to restore power to the more than 3,100 customers who were affected by the fire. Of those customers who lost power as a result of the fire, 730 remain out. PG&E officials did not have an estimate of when power will be fully restored.
$90,000 donation to relief efforts
To help ease the misery of the fire, PG&E gave $90,000 to two organizations dedicated to helping with the recovery process.
The Mariposa Community Foundation received $50,000 to support wildfire relief efforts in the area and assist residents who were displaced by the fire, said Joshua Simes, vice president of PG&E’s Central Valley Region.
The utility company also donated $40,000 from the PG&E Red Cross Disaster Holding Fund to the Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region to support services for residents effected by the ongoing Western wildfires.
“Many of our coworkers responding to this fire and their families and friends live and work in the Mariposa area. And we all know the impact wildfires have on communities we serve,” said Simes.
Cal Fire officials said there are nearly 4,000 personnel involved in fighting the fire. The cost of the fight so far is $34.4 million, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Road closures, evacuated and lifted areas
Cal Fire listed areas still affected by the fire including these road closures:
• Jerseydale Road
•Silva Road from Van Ness to Triangle Road open to residents only, be prepared to show identification
.• Darrah Road from Deer Springs to Triangle Road open to residents only, be prepared to show identification
Evacuation orders also remain in effect for the following areas:
• Jerseydale Road and all side roads
• Sweetwater Ridge/Mine area
• Feliciana Mountain Road
• Ferguson/Apperson Mine Road area
• Savage Lundy Trail
• Carter Road Including all side roads
• Hites Cove Road
• Footman Ridge area
• Devil’s Gulch area
Evacuation orders lifted for the following areas:
▪ Carstens Road
▪ Triangle Road from Highway 140 to Darrah Road including all side roads
▪ Carter Road
▪ Plumbar Creek Road
▪ Buckingham Mountain Road
▪ Memory Lane
▪ Butterfly Ridge Road
▪ Merrill Mill Road
Help with documents
The Mariposa County Health and Human Services will host a three-day local assistance center beginning Monday at Mariposa High.
The event is for people affected by the Oak Fire and need help replacing important documents that were lost or destroyed. It also will help those who need food and other things.
The event is in the gymnasium from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Aug. 1-3. The school is at 5074 Old Highway.
Gofundme for victims of Oak Fire
GoFundMe established a centralized hub to help identify all verified fundraisers created for those who have lost businesses and homes in the Oak Fire.
The “Trust & Safety” team reviews fundraisers related to the Oak Fire, according to the fundraising site. They are collected at a hub.
The hub can be found at gofundme.com/c/act/wildfire-relief/california/central.
This story was originally published July 30, 2022 at 9:42 AM with the headline "Oak Fire update: Wildfire grows little as fire crews reinforce containment lines."
