4,440 Acres Burned In Rim Fire

Groveland, CA — The Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District has cancelled classes today, district wide.

It was scheduled to be the first day of school, but Superintendent Dave Urquhart says the smoke and closed roads pose too much of a safety hazard. The Rim Fire in the Stanislaus National Forest has burned over 4,400 acres. Yesterday the fire jumped over the Tuolumne River and over Highway 120, prompting a complete closure of 120 between Groveland and Yosemite. The Highway remains closed until further notice, and traffic leaving Yosemite National Park is forced to use an alternate route.

25 structures are threatened, and 285 firefighters are on scene.

Advisory evacuations are in place for the Buck Meadows area in Mariposa County, and in Tuolumne County at the San Jose Family Camp, Rainbow Pool, Yosemite Inn, Early Intake, Evergreen Lodge, Packard Canyon and the Spinning Wheel Forest Service Facility. An evacuation center is set up at Tioga High School with assistance from the Red Cross. That evacuation center is expected to move to the Mother Lode Fairgrounds later today.

A special thanks to our community news partners Rick Martinez, Suzanne Ctibor, Mike McEvoy, Jerry Day and Doug Schmiett for sending in photos of the fire. They can be e-mailed to news@clarkebroadcasting.com.