Sonora, CA—Several CAL FIRE burns are set for continued hazardous fuel reduction in Mother Lode counties this week.
CAL Fire will be conducting two burns tomorrow, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. In Calaveras County, the Whittle VMP site will be ignited from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“The primary purpose of the 60-acre prescribed burn is to reduce hazardous fuel around Fowler Peak Lookout, communication towers, and surrounding infrastructure located on top of the Bear Mountain Range, just east of Copperopolis and west of Angels Camp,” advised CAL FIRE officials.
Smoke will be visible from Highways 49 and 4. CAL FIRE noted that firefighters will remain at the scene until all areas are cool or the heat is out.
Additionally, in Mariposa County, CAL FIRE Madera-Mariposa-Merced (MMU) will set ablaze 11 acres of brush and grasses near Yaqui (Yaa-Kwee) Gulch and Old Highway in the Bridgeport area of Mariposa from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Then, on Friday, June 26, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., in Amador County, the Amoruso Ranch VMP Prescribed Burn near Fiddletown in the area of Fiddletown Road and Quartz Mountain Road will be ignited. About 150 acres of grass and brush within the VMP will be treated with prescribed fire, with the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Department and the Amador Fire Protection District assisting in the burn.
As we reported earlier here, approximately 120 acres will be burned today through Thursday (6/25/26) at the Pine Mountain Lake Vegetation Management Project site near the subdivision in the Groveland area of Tuolumne County. Central Sierra Broadcasting received several calls today regarding the plume of smoke in the area and was informed that it was a scheduled burn. CAL FIRE asks the public not to report these burns as a wildfire.
