Wildfire blocked SF kids from Lake County camp. Sierra’s Camp Jack Hazard stepped in

Camp Jack Hazard, a long-time High Sierra spot for Modesto-area residents, stepped up this week for San Francisco-area kids whose travel plans went awry.

A wildfire kept an at-risk youth group called PSI World from its usual camp near Clear Lake, so leaders scrambled to arrange a stay at Camp Jack Hazard.

The camp, along Highway 108 roughly 100 miles from Modesto, had ended its 2018 season last week. Executive Director Jason Poisson said he then got a call from PSI World, which asked to rent the place from Monday to Friday.

Sixty-five young campers and about two dozen adults made the trip and have been enjoying the scenery, swimming pool, arts and other activities.

“This has been an incredible adventure,” PSI World Vice President Kathy Quinlan-Perez said in a voice mail to the Bee. She could not be reached to elaborate.

The camp dates to the early 1920s, when Modesto residents Jack and Buena Hazard started driving youths to the area for spartan camping. It soon came under the YMCA of Stanislaus County, which ran it until the Y chapter folded in 2009 amid financial trouble.

The camp has been run since 2011 by the Jack and Buena Foundation, based in Modesto, and is rented to users around Northern California.