Progress On Gaines Fire In Mariposa

Mariposa County Sheriff's Office photo

Mariposa County, CA — The acreage is holding steady while containment grows on the Gaines Fire burning in Mariposa County.

It ignited in the area of Mt. Gaines Road and Bear Valley Road in Bear Valley at around 1 p.m. on Friday, as reported here. The latest size estimate is 1,300 acres and the containment has grown to 15 percent. CAL Fire spokesperson David Schuerich updates, “Ground crews worked with a lot of aircraft and got a lot of retardant lines in yesterday and through the night they were strengthening those lines. They’ll just be working on that throughout the day with a variety of resources; hand crews, personnel, engines and bulldozers.”

Twenty structures remain threatened with no damages reported. Fire advisements issued by the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office remain in place for the following locations: Highway 49 between Bear Valley Road to Pendola Gardens; Bear Valley Road/Highway 49 to Hunters Valley Road; Pendola Gardens Road; Corbett Creek; Gold Dust Lane; Old Toll from Hornitos to Pendola Gardens. This means there is a potential for evacuations should conditions worsen.

Schuerich, however, relays that today’s conditions are actually improving, stating, “The benefit of today is that temperatures are supposed to be a little bit cooler and the relative humidity is supposed to be a little bit higher. Hopefully, that reduces any increased fire activity.”

There is currently a through traffic closure on Bear Valley Road between North 9 Road and Highway 49 with only residents being allowed passage. Schuerich advises full containment may not be reached for several days. He adds that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.