Motor Fire spreads, but Highway 140 to Yosemite expected to reopen on Tuesday
A report that was timestamped 6:26 PM this evening states that the “Motor Fire,” which started when a propane tank exploded, had burned over 4,700 acres earlier today. Although Highway 140 was still closed (more about that below), Highway 41 and 120 into Yosemite National Park are still open. Scott Gediman, Yosemite National Park spokesman, said the smoke from the Motor Fire burning in a box canyon did not even tinge the skies above Yosemite Valley:
“The sky is blue,” Gediman said. “There’s water in the waterfalls, the trails are open and it does not affect them in any way, shape or form.”
(Note added August 30, 2011: I think that Mr. Gediman is inviting you to Yosemite! 😉 )
Around 300 people, who are mainly park service and concession employees, are under an evacuation order covering El Portal, Rancheria, Cedar Creek Lodge and the Merced River campgrounds. Park authorities said that most of them were placed in tents, empty cabins, or other lodging in the valley, and some found space with friends and family.
A Red Cross spokeswoman, Ellen Knapp, said that only one person showed up at the evacuation center at the Lutheran Church in Mariposa last Thursday, two more on Friday, and nobody else showed up over the entire weekend!
The L.A. Tiumes article has a photo of the fire and a map of locations.
As for Highway 140, the main road to Yosemite Valley that has been closed since last Thursday afternoon, the road is expected to reopen tomorrow, Tuesday, August 30 at 6 AM! The road has been closed from about four miles east of Midpines to about four miles west of the park boundary. The latter article, which is timestamped 8:02 PM this evening, says that the Motor Fire has consumed about 5,230 acres of pine and brush.
Firefighters credited the large air assault involving tanker planes and helicopters for the progress made against the Motor Fire, which is now 50% contained.
-Bill at
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