Rough fire evacuation orders lifted

There was good news from the Rough fire Tuesday: Fresno County Sheriff’s Office lifted mandatory evacuation orders and warnings in the Dunlap, Miramonte and Pinehurst areas.

Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said the decision was made in collaboration with Rough fire managers. The blaze, which has burned 139,531 acres, prompted the evacuations late last week. As of Tuesday evening, it was 49 percent contained.

Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted for all properties in these areas: south of Highway 180 between Dunlap Road and Highway 245, south of Highway 180 and east of the Highway 180/Dunlap Road junction, adjacent to the north side of Dunlap Road from the Highway 180/Dunlap Road junction to the Dunlap Road/Millwood Road junction, on both sides of Millwood Road, on both sides of Todd Eymann Road from Millwood Road to Highway 245 and on both sides of Highway 245 from Todd Eymann Road to Highway 180.

Evacuation warnings were removed for all properties in these areas: the south side of Dunlap Road from the Highway 180/Dunlap Road junction east to the Dunlap Road/Millwood Road junction, on both sides of Dunlap Road from the Dunlap Road/Millwood Road junction east to the Dunlap Road/Highway 245 junction, on both sides of Brookside Road and along Hopewell Road north of Highway 180 and east to the fire burn area within the Sequoia National Forest boundary.

All roads south of Highway 180 leading into Dunlap, Miramonte and Pinehurst were to reopen.

All other evacuation orders north of Highway 180 are still in effect, Botti said.

Botti asked that residents and travelers be patient, as fire equipment operators still were using the roads to travel to and from the fire area. More than 3,700 firefighters were working on the blaze, which is now the fifth-largest in the nation.

The Rough fire is now the largest wildfire in Fresno County history, and sits at number 16 – and climbing – on California’s all-time list.

The Rough fire management team said only one-tenth of an inch of rain fell on the fire area on Monday, but the increased humidity did help firefighting efforts and slow the wildfire’s growth.

In the fire’s south zone, where much of the at-risk structures and landmarks are, crews shifted from suppression to clean up. The teams are now working to maintain containment lines around Grant Grove and clear trees and other debris from the area.

The north zone also is moving into a clean-up mode, as more than 100,000 feet of hose will be removed from the Wishon Reservoir area.

Firefighters saw more rain in the western area of the fire, which allowed them to actively suppress parts of the fire while also maintaining containment lines behind them.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Rough fire evacuation orders lifted."