Moc Fire Update, 8 p.m.: 1,500 residences, SF power, water distribution sources threatened
Update 8 p.m.: More than 1,500 residences, infrastructure tied to power and water for San Francisco and the Moccasin Fish Hatchery remained threatened due to the Moc Fire in Tuolumne and Mariposa counties on Friday night, officials announced.
Nobody has been injured and no structures have been destroyed, according to the news release.
More than 2,800 acres of vegetation have burned with zero percent containment as of 8 p.m., according to Cal Fire.
PG&E have shut off power to 4,100 customers in Groveland, Big Oak Flat, Pine Mountain Lake, Moccasin and Coulterville.
If you need non-emergency information about the fire, call 209-533-5151.
Update 5 p.m.: California State Parks announced the closure of San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area (SRA) and Pacheco State Park due to the SCU Lightning Complex Fire.
Here is what is closed in each area:
San Luis Reservoir: O’Neill Forebay, Medeiros, Basalt, Dinosaur Point, San Luis Creek, Los Banos Creek Reservoir and Jasper Sears Off-Highway Vehicle Area.
Pacheco State Park: Dinosaur Point Road
Update, 4:30 p.m.: Parts of western Merced County got an evacuation warning as the huge wildfire rages in Del Puerto Canyon.
Residents in the zone should be prepared to leave if an evacuation order follows, Cal Fire announced. It includes all of the county north of Highway 152 between Interstate 5 and the Santa Clara County line, but not the community of Santa Nella.
Update, 3:15 p.m.: Tuolumne County Sheriff Bill Pooley addressed the need for Moc Fire evacuations in a statement released Friday afternoon.
The fire started Thursday afternoon near the junction of Highways 49 and 120 and was at about 2,800 acres at noon Friday. The origin is near the base of Priest Grade, a steep and winding corridor to the Groveland area.
Emergency officials ordered a few thousand residents out of that area fairly quickly compared with past fires. Pooley said the topography contributed to this, as did the loss of electricity and the statewide demand for firefighters.
“Based on the difficult terrain, lack of resources and fire behavior, the ability for people to escape the Big Oak Flat and Groveland communities caused me and our Cal Fire partners great concern,” the sheriff said. “... We continue to safely evacuate families, pets and livestock from threatened areas.”
The Tuolumne County portion of the evacuation zone includes the historic towns of Big Oak Flat and Groveland, along with the Pine Mountain Lake community in the Tuolumne River canyon. Nearby parts of Mariposa County also have evacuation orders.
Update, 12:30 p.m.: Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a briefing with Cal Fire that there are 560 fires burning in California. “A lot of them are sleeper fires,” he said.
Newsom also said that resources are stretched thin fighting the fires.
“We’ve even pulled off equipment that we were selling,” he said.
Update, 11:10 a.m.: The Moc fire has grown to 2,800 acres, Cal Fire said in an update.
The National Weather Service has issued a “Fire Watch” for the weekend, warning that more dry lightning storms could be coming to the area, potentially sparking more fires.
Original story:
A new fire that sparked in Tuolumne County quadrupled in size overnight and led to several areas being evacuated. And fires outside of Patterson on Stanislaus County’s west side continued to grow.
The Moc fire near Highways 49 and 120 broke out Thursday afternoon and has grown to 2,500 acres as of Friday morning, according to Cal Fire.
Mandatory evacuations had been issued for multiple areas including: Groveland and Pine Mountain Lake, Highway 120 to Boneyard, Second Garrote, and Incense Cedar Trail, and everything west of Second Garrote, Cherokee Trail, and Yosemite Springs. Old Highway 120 has been added as well.
All Jackass Creek Road, Jackass Creek Ridge, and Jackass Ridge access are also under mandatory evacuation.
The SCU Lightning Complex, a series of fires that includes the one burning in Del Puerto Canyon outside of Patterson, grew to 229,968 acres overnight, according to Cal Fire, and firefighters anticipate more growth today due to high temperatures and low humidity.
“Daytime humidity will be in the teens across the entire complex,” a news release from Cal Fire reads. “Expect critical rates of spread when fuels, wind, and topography are in alignment and an increase in fire activity after (noon).”
Firefighters have achieved 10 percent containment of the fire, up from 5 percent Thursday.
All of the fires are contributing to air quality problems throughout the Northern San Joaquin Valley, though Friday morning’s air was not as bad as it has been this week, according to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
We’ll have more on this breaking story this morning.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 7:35 AM.