Rough Fire grows to 110,134 acres, nearby communities on edge
ALL private property within the Hume Lake Ranger District and north of Highway 180 including Wilsonia are under MANDATORY evacuations. All access to Highway 180 is CLOSED east of Dunlap Road. Dunlap Road remains open at this time.
DUNLAP, Calif. (KFSN) -- Authorities will close Highway 180 at Dunlap Road at 9 a.m. on Thursday to traffic heading east. The closure is 20 miles from Kings Canyon National Park just nine miles away from the fire. Highway 245 will also be closed at Dry Creek.
Dozens of families in the Dunlap, Miramonte, and Pinehurst are on edge ready to leave after evacuation warnings were put in place because of the Rough Fire. It was fairly calm last night until another fire broke out near Squaw Valley Road -- causing some families to panic. Luckily nearby airtankers from the Rough Fire were able to help suppress this 400 acre fire. But as of Wednesday night, it had not been contained.
Wednesday night hundreds of people gathered at a community meeting asking questions about both nearby fires. Firefighters say if the fire moves past a contingency line near Hume Lake and mandatory evacuations are likely.
"We're very scared actually. We've already made sure we've got a plan to evacuate our animals...and what's important to us out of the house so we can leave," said Tawnee Smith, Dunlap resident.
EVACUATION ORDERS:
ALL private property within the Hume Lake Ranger District and north of Highway 180 including Wilsonia are under MANDATORY evacuations.
All access to Highway 180 is CLOSED east of Dunlap Road. Dunlap Road remains open at this time.
The Red Cross has opened a shelter in Sanger at the Sanger Community Center, 730 Recreation Dr. Sanger CA
The Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park issued the following evacuation order:
SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, Calif., September 10, 2015 - In response to the current conditions on the Rough Fire, which is burning in Kings Canyon National Park and the Sierra and Sequoia national forests, the National Park Service issued an Evacuation Order, effective today at 6:00am, to park visitors, park employees, concessions staff, and residents of Wilsonia, in the Grant Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park. The National Park Service is working with the Sheriffs' Departments of both Fresno County and Tulare County to provide the evacuation notifications.
An Evacuation Order is defined as, "Movement of community members out of a defined area due to an immediate threat to life and property from an emergency incident. An Evacuation Order should be used when there is potential or actual threat to civilian life within 1 to 2 hours or when the Incident Commander deems it necessary to protect civilians."
With the increase of firefighting personnel and firefighting operations occurring in the Grant Grove area, and the potential for the Rough Fire to move into the area; the park management in cooperation with the Rough Fire Incident Management Team have made the decision to close the Grant Grove area, and order the evacuation.
At this time, Highway 180 is closed at the Big Stump Entrance Station. The Generals Highway (sometimes referred to as Hwy. 198 is closed at the Red Fir gate (which is west of Wuksachi Village). Sequoia National Park remains open and visitors can still use the Ash Mountain Entrance Station. Vehicles longer than 22 feet (including trailers) are not advised between Potwisha and Giant Forest Museum.
RELATED: Big Cats and communities on edge as the Rough Fire closes in
Rough Fire Basic Information
Size: 110,134 Acres
Containment: 29 percent
Personnel: 2,167
Weather Concerns: High pressure will remain over Nevada with weak low pressure over the southern California coast. Temperatures will remain warm with very low relative humidity values. Poor to very poor relative humidity recovery will continuer into the weekend. Winds remain terrain and diurnally driven. Inversion and thermal belt will form overnight trapping smoke...otherwise mostly clear highs 80-105. Minimum relative humidity 10 to 25 percent.
Air Quality Today: Heavy concentrations of smoke are expected near the fire today. Smoke will be slow to lift and transport will primarily terrain and diurnally driven. Light and variable transport winds are expected primarily from the southeast, with increased impacts expected in the San Joaquin Valley foothills northwest of the fire. Residual smoke that has not cleared the area, will add to impacts from new smoke being produced. Unhealthy to Hazardous conditions are expected in communities near the fire.
Closures: All campgrounds in Kings Canyon National Park are now closed until further notice. - The Kings Canyon Visitor Center will be open with modified hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. - The General Grant Tree, Panoramic Point, park trails, John Muir Lodge, Grant Grove Cabins, restaurant, market, and gift shop are open. Ranger programs and hikes have been cancelled due to poor air quality however they may occur if the air quality improves.
Recreation opportunities on the Hume Lake Ranger District have been impacted by the Rough Fire. Stony Creek Village Resort will be open for day use through the Labor Day weekend. Montecito Lake Resort is closed.
