Re: Motor Fire Update 7:00 am August 26

Some essential information:

Fire began yesterday at approximately 12:30 PM with a motor home fire on Hwy 140.

About 11pm last night fire activity was backing along the slopes. Fire remains on both sides of the river East of Cedar Lodge and in Dry Gulch. Fire was fairly active. Highway 140 has a hard closure with active fire along the road and debris on the roadway. Highway140 closure is likely for all of today. The fire is estimated at 1000 acres.

Power was returned to Yosemite Valley and other areas sometime between midnight and 4am. Power may be intermittant.

Heavy use of aircraft and dozers today. 500+ fire fighters are on site today.

El Portal nonessential employees are granted administrative leave. Check the hotline (209-379-1186) for more information. If an essential employee, check with your supervisor regarding your status.

Possibility of Rancharia evacuation due to fire threatening the area and need for burnout operations. Decision will be made by IC. We will coordinate with the Sheriff and National Park Service.

A joint information center should be established to coordinate between the park, county fire, and fire ICS. Essential to have this up and running as soon as possible. I anticipate national attention and news trucks. Incident command post at Badger with use of Bridalveil campground. Type II Central Sierra team will be in place today.

A Yosemite fire information center has been established. Contact numbers are 209-372-0327 or 0329.

This is an evolving event and periodic updates will be available as often as possible.

For up to date info:

http://yubanet.com/CAFires/Motor.php

http://inciweb.org/incident/2520/

Overview
At approximately noon on August 25, a motor home caught fire in the Merced River Canyon along Hwy 140 near Cedar Lodge. Fire spread to both sides of the Merced River, the Sierra National Forest to the south and the Stanislaus National Forest to the north.

Current Conditions

• The fire is still active and has grown to approximately 3,000 acres.
• The most active portion of the fire is the NE corner, the Trumball Peak area.
• Highway 140 is closed from the Octagon to Foresta Road.
• Highways 120 (east and west) and 41 are all open.
• Cedar Lodge, some campgrounds, and some private residences have been evacuated. There is a possibility of Rancheria evacuation to allow for burnout operations. If this decision is made it will be coordinated through the Sheriff's office and communicated to residents. Old El Portal and Yosemite West have also been given pre-evacuation notice and advised to prepare for potential evacuations.
• Based on current fire conditions El Portal work sites are closed to non-essential personnel.
• Please check the NPS employee hotline each day to determine your work status. The message is updated each day at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm.

Pre-evacuation Notice: What does it mean?

• This notice is to alert residents that they may be asked to evacuate at any time. Although every attempt is made to give ample notice of an evacuation, it is possible that the evacuation request could be to leave your residence in minutes rather than hours. Please take the opportunity right now to do some preliminary packing and gather any items that you may wish to take with you in the event of an evacuation.
• An email message will be sent to all NPS employees that includes a brochure from “Ready, Set, Go,” a program that gives advice on how to prepare for an evacuation. Hard copies will be placed at each of the fire information boards in El Portal, so all community members have access to the information. It can also be accessed at http://www.readyforwildfire.org.

Many thx to the firefighters for their hard work.

Burned RV

USFS Photo

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Burned RV

USFS Photo

Your link appears to be broken.

Below is the photo of the destroyed motorhome.

Question: Wasn't that motorhome too large to travel on Hwy 140 with its vehicle-length restrictions?