Fire breaks out near North Fork as foothill, Sierra wind gusts surge to 85 mph
Firefighters were on the scene late Monday of a vegetation blaze near the foothill town of North Fork, prompting an evacuation advisory at a mobile home park on a night that as expected saw a massive wind event begin in the Sierra and foothill areas of central California.
The fire broke out sometime after 11 p.m. and was said to be in the area of Road 225 and Douglas Ranger Station Road. There was no immediate word on the acreage involved.
An e-alert was sent out to subscribers of the Madera County Emergency Warning System.
“A Fire Informational Alert has been issued for Douglas Ranger Station Road, the alert stated. “Emergency personnel are responding to the area. This is informational only. Monitor the situation and be prepared to take action immediately.
“Don’t wait for an evacuation order to leave if you feel threatened. This is an advisory that there is a fire in the area of Douglas Ranger Station Road and Road 225.”
North Fork is about an hour’s drive to the northeast from Fresno. A second fire to the north was reported at Road 222 and Manzanita Lake Road.
About an hour earlier, the National Weather Service tweeted that winds had dramatically increased.
“Winds materializing in the Sierra,” the tweet read. “Gusts to over 85 mph reported in Cascadel Heights just above North Fork at 1015 PM.
“Expect a very windy night to continue with damaging winds. A High Wind Warning is in effect.”
The evacuation advisory was for a mobile home park in North Fork.
PG&E customers were experiencing power outages in the North Fork and Oakhurst areas, but it was unclear if it was related to the fire or a planned pre-emptive shutdown in advance of the high winds.
PG&E, in an updated announcement Monday, said some 5,465 customers in small portions of Fresno, Kern, Madera, Mariposa and Tulare counties were set to be “de-energized” for the public safety power shutoff (PSPS) beginning overnight into Tuesday morning.
The number of customers was downgraded from the Sunday estimate of 6,100.
A high wind watch was issued Saturday and upgraded to a warning Sunday and included areas ravaged by the Creek Fire last fall.
The Creek Fire grew to become the state’s largest single fire since modern records began being kept in 1932, burning 377,693 acres and destroying 853 homes and other structures. It began Sept. 4 and was not fully contained until late December.
Other power outages reported
Power lines were said to be down in Oakhurst, according to a Facebook post.
An outage also was reported in Ahwahnee.
There were scattered reports of trees being knocked down into power lines and onto roads.
PG&E’s outage map indicated no safety shutoffs in the area. It showed customers in and around North Fork as well as the Bass Lake and Oakhurst areas to the north were affected.
PG&E assessment crews were said to be en route.
Amid planned outages, resource centers to open
PG&E said in a news release early Tuesday that the scheduled preemptive “de-energization was beginning about 1 a.m.
“To support our customers during this PSPS, PG&E will open Community Resource Centers (CRC) from 8:00 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. at the following locations:”
▪ Auberry Library on 33049 Auberry Road, Auberry
▪ Bear Mountain Library on 30733 E Kings Canyon Road, Dunlap
▪ North Fork Elementary School on 33087 Road 228, North Fork
▪ Yosemite High School on 50200 High School Road, Oakhurst
▪ New Life Christian Fellowship on 5089 Cole Road, Mariposa
▪ Grover Beach Community Center on 1230 Trouville Avenue, Grover Beach
▪ First Christian Church on 15550 S College Drive, Santa Maria
“The temporary CRCs will provide ADA-accessible restrooms, hand-washing stations, medical-equipment charging, WiFi; bottled water, grab-and-go bags and non-perishable snacks.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 12:34 AM.
