Highway 41 reopened after grass fire forces closure in Madera County

MADERA COUNTY (KFSN) -- Highway 41 is back open after the Oakwood Fire shut it down in Madera County.

The fire is still burning and has grown to more than 1,400 acres, but firefighters now say the blaze is 75 percent contained.

Fire crews were still out lining Highway 41 Sunday morning, but they say the fire is no longer spreading. Highway 41 reopened that morning and firefighters say structures were threatened but no one was ordered to evacuate.

Alfonso's Mexican Restaurant in Coarsegold saw more business than usual Saturday because of the closed highway. One waitress says the smell of smoke eventually filled the restaurant but says they saw double the amount of customers than usual.

"We had people coming down from Yosemite for graduation and then we had all the people from the casino," Sarah Wynn said.

The owner of the cantina says her family was trying to come up Highway 41 to Coarsegold but had to add more time to their trip and go a different way.

"My son graduated high school on Wednesday, and we're having a party for him," owner Deborah Torres said. "So, we had family coming up so they had to be routed a different direction."

She also says cal fire has been trying to prepare residents for future fires and just went by her house again on Saturday for the second time.

"Cal Fire has been inspecting actually inspecting our properties and what needs to be done because the fires been so bad in the past," she said.

Firefighters say they're hoping to have it fully contained by Monday night. They are still investigating what may have caused it.