Mother Lode Fires

Fire fighters are still struggling with a fast moving brush fire along Highway 49 at the Mariposa/Tuolumne
County line. the blaze has grown to 550 acres, and has forced evacuation of 6 families from Haigh (high) road and 35 campers from a private campground
along Pino Blanco. Firefighters still have some concerns about Cuneo (KOO nee-oh) road, but have not ordered an evacuation there yet. An evacuation shelter
has been aestablished by the Red Cross at the Coulterville Community Club.

The blaze is putting out a lot of smoke, and we´ll be seeing it in the
Mother Lode tonight and tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Forest Service crews have a 30 acre blaze along highway 108 40 percent contained, and plan to
work throughthe night. They expect to have it surrounded by 8:00 tomorrow morning. Firefighters credit their air support and a fuel break in the Strawberry
area with keeping the fire from getting out of hand in the extreme fire danger conditions.