Update: Firefighters Stop Forward Spread On Woods Fire
View VideoUpdate at 4:05 pm: The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s office has announced that all mandatory evacuation orders and warnings are now canceled. The road closure on Stockton Road from Ponderosa Way to Highway 108 will remain in place while fire crews continue to mop up. Additionally, the evacuation center at the Posse Grounds off Rawhide Road, and the Animal Shelter off of Victoria Way will be closing today.
Update at 11:03am: Click on “view video” to see some footage of a helicopter working to put out hotspots this morning on the Woods Fire. The smoke in the fire area has noticeably diminished from 12 hours ago.
Update at 10:47am: Tuolumne County District Two Supervisor Ryan Campbell took part in a weekly Office of Emergency Services media briefing this morning, and Clarke Broadcasting asked him about the high number of fires that have ignited in and around Camp Hope over the past couple of years, including last night’s Woods Fire.
Campbell replied, “I think it is really concerning that there are so many fires in that area. I think there is an element of people camping in that area, and I don’t know if it was the cause (of the fire) in this particular case. It is going to take time to determine that. It wasn’t the cause with the Washington Fire (burned 140 acres nearby last August), but still nonetheless, when you have people that are camping in an unstructured area there, you are taking on a much higher level of risk there.”
Campbell then argued that it is important for people to have alternative places to go, in areas that are more structured, and less fire-prone.
He added, “The city and county have been working together to try and clear those areas out. Camp Hope, right now, I know has had a fence around it, and people are not supposed to be in it. Again, I don’t know if that was the case here (cause of fire unknown), but I think it is important that disorganized camping situations become less prevalent, and it is very important to our fire safety.”
Update at 9:46am: CAL Fire spokesperson Emily Kilgore reports that Air Attack, two tankers, and a helicopter are out helping to build more containment lines and extinguish hotter burning areas of the Woods Fire.
The aircraft is in addition to 33 engines, five water tenders, eight hand crews and four dozers.
We reported earlier that the forward spread has been stopped on the 21 acre fire. It is considered 10 percent contained. The earlier evacuation orders remain in place. The cause is still under investigation.
Original story posted at 5:19am: Sonora, CA — A wildfire ignited in the Camp Hope area off Stockton Road shortly before the nine o’clock hour Thursday prompting numerous evacuation orders and warnings.
Much progress was made overnight. CAL Fire spokesperson Emily Kilgore says, “The Woods incident is currently 21 acres, and the decrease in acreage from the earlier reports last night is due to mapping from intelligence aircraft. We have 10-percent containment and the forward progress of the fire has been stopped.”
Officials are optimistic that the fire will not grow any further.
We reported last night it was estimated to be 40 acres.
Kilgore adds, “Evacuation advisories and orders that were put in place last night are still in effect. Firefighters are going to continue to construct and establish containment lines throughout the day, and damage assessment will be ongoing.”
The cause of the fire is also still under investigation, according to Kilgore.
MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDERS
*North Drive
*Fairway
*Outlook Drive
*Martha Lane
*Golden Dove
*Silver Pine
*Circle Lane
*Alley Drive
*Charbroullian Lane
*Constance Lane
*Golf Links Road
*Mountain Vista Court
*McKibbin
EVACUATION WARNINGS
*Gibbs Drive
*Jamestown Road
*Racetrack Road
ROAD CLOSURES
Stockton Road from Hwy 108 to Ponderosa Way
EVACUATION CENTER LOCATION
Sheriff’s Posse Grounds in Jamestown.
