Rough Fire is causing problems for Labor Day weekend

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Rough Fire is causing problems for Labor Day weekend. Campgrounds are closed due to smoke and roads are still too dangerous to drive.

There is smoke in the hills of Fresno County making it hard for people to breathe. It's so bad at Hume Lake, Paula and Rick Wilkinson had to pack up and leave their cabin.

Paula Wilkinson said, "The air quality is nasty in the morning, it's really thick and really smelly."

The cabin is their home but right now, they're waiting out the Rough Fire in Fresno.

"We're supposed to live up there full time," Rick Wilkinson said, "But unfortunately, we're sacking it at the in-laws."

The smoke is choking Kings Canyon National Park. It's drifting through campgrounds and keeping them closed. Further east, there is another problem -- a road closure near Cedar Grove where hikers were forced to leave vehicles behind.

George Apple who is a public information officer for the Rough Fire said, "Having rocks and debris fall on Highway 180, we don't want people driving back there so we still have roads closed."

He says firefighters have been able to get some of the vehicles out.

"We'll schedule escorts to get people back in there, when it's safe, when we don't have any fire operations," Apple said.

It's a very small window with a fire this big. Firefighters are busy on the ground and in the air. None of this is good for people who fly for fun.

Greg Pierson runs a shuttle service in Dunlap. He says Labor Day weekend is big for paragliders and hang gliding but he's turning them all away.

Pierson added, "They normally come here, but we're having to divert them because they can't fly here, while the road is closed."

There's no telling when the smoke will clear. So, in the meantime, Pierson is losing business and the Wilkinson's will have to keep roughing it with the in-laws.