Repopulation In Progress On The Railroad Fire Impacting Yosemite

Fish Camp, CA — Overnight the Railroad Fire’s acreage grew over 500 acres to 12,141 but so did the containment from 43 to 50 percent.

The blaze, which is impacting Yosemite National Park, is burning in the Sierra National Forest along Highway 41 between the communities of Sugar Pine and Fish Camp.  With the hike in containment, park officials have lifted evacuations in those areas and have released this tentative timeline for repopulation:

• Fish Camp, Tenaya Lodge -Mandatory order will lift at noon on Friday, must enter via Yosemite Park.
• Sky Ranch -Residents only beginning 5:00pm on Friday
• Sugar Pine – Residents only beginning 3:00pm on Saturday
• Cedar Valley/The Grove/Ecco – Residents only, unknown when, by end of weekend maybe
• Highway 41 -Full opening by Saturday at 5:00pm
• Bissett Station Road -Will remain under advisory evacuation between Hwy 41 and Round House with law enforcement presence in the area. Madera County Sheriff’s Office will continue to issue re-entry passes Friday morning 9/8/17 from 9:30am to 1:00pm at the Sheriff’s Office Sub-station in Oakhurst.

The flames have destroyed 17 structures and still threaten 500 while a total of 1,045 fire personnel continue to battle the blaze. Today, crews will be extinguishing hot spots along the perimeter of the fire on the west and north flank at Rainier Creek. Park fire officials report that burning operations intended to improve the defense of the community of Cedar Valley have been successful. Additionally, bulldozers are creating a fire break on the northeast side of the fire around Big Sandy and above Speckerman Mountain.

Efforts to contain two other fires that are burning in the park appear to be working as the South Fork (6,640 acres, 47% containment) and Empire (5,637 acres, 55% containment) fires acreage and containment are holding steady.  Park officials are tracking this weekend’s forecast that calls for a slight chance of afternoon/early evening showers and thunderstorms for the next several days along with a slight warming trend beginning Sunday.