SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, Calif., September 8, 2015 –In response to the current conditions on the Rough Fire, burning in Kings Canyon National Park and the Sierra and Sequoia national forests, the National Park Service is issuing an Evacuation Warning to park employees, concessions staff, residents of Wilsonia, and park visitors in the Grant Grove area north of the junction of Hwy. 180 and the Generals Highway (sometimes referred to as Hwy. 198). The National Park Service is working with the Sheriff's Departments of both Fresno County and Tulare County to provide the warning notifications.

An Evacuation Warning is defined as, "Alerting of community members in a defined area of a potential threat to life and property from an emergency incident. An Evacuation Warning may be issued when the potential or actual threat to civilian life is more than 2 hours away."

Currently, there is no immediate threat to Grant Grove, however with the recent fire behavior that has been observed over the past several days, the park management in cooperation with the Rough Fire Incident Management Team believes that the fire could make significant movement in that direction in the near future.

For more information on the Rough Fire, please call 559-332-2028, or visit http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4456/.