Telegraph fire in Mariposa County keeps burning, only 10 percent contained

By JEFF ST. JOHN
THE FRESNO BEE

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UPDATE - 7:00 p.m. More than 3,100 firefighters are battling a wildfire raging not far from Yosemite National Park this evening. The fire has consumed more than 26,000 acres, 12 homes and 27 outbuildings. Cal Fire says the blaze is only 10 percent contained -- unchanged from the agency's report this morning. Cal Fire says about 4,000 homes are threatened in the towns of Midpines, Briceburg, Mariposa, Greeley Hill, Coulterville, Bear Valley, and Mt. Bullion Camp.

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UPDATE - 3:00 p.m. Highway 140 has been closed between Mariposa and Yosemite National Park as a wildfire in the Midpines area threatened to jump the road. The fire has burned about 27,000 acres and is 10 percent contained, Cal Fire officials say.

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UPDATE - 10:40 a.m. The wildfire near Yosemite National Park that has forced hundreds of people from their homes has spread to more than 26,000 acres and is only 10 percent contained. A statement from Cal Fire says the fire "is burning with a rapid rate of spread in multiple directions."

More than 2,500 people are fighting the fire, and two dozen aircraft are being used, Cal Fire says. Three firefighters were treated for minor injuries, said Mike Mohler, a spokesman for Cal Fire.

A community meeting for residents affected by the fire is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at Mariposa High School.

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MARIPOSA -- 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.

The fire had not caused any reported deaths or injuries, but had destroyed 12 homes and 27 other structures by late Sunday night, officials said.

The threat of fire led authorities Sunday to issue an evacuation warning to people living in the communities east of Highway 49 from Mykleoaks Road south to the Highway 140 junction and in communities west of Highway 140 from Mariposa north to Briceburg.

Nearly 2,000 firefighters from as far away as San Diego were fighting the blaze Sunday.

A team of 17 people from Stanislaus County left Saturday evening for another blaze, the Serpentine fire in Tuolumne County at Highway 49, just north of the Mariposa County line.

On the strike team were members of the Modesto, Oakdale Rural and Oakdale City fire departments and the Salida and Stanislaus Consolidated fire protection districts, said Chief Gary Hinshaw of the Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services.