Fire!

[dj]

Hi Susan,  just smoky for a few hours in the evenings then cleared nicely by morning, and never that intense.  We were fortunate.   I'm guessing this smoke was from one of the North Fork fires.     The Balls/Jackass Lakes area  was quite clear as well, w/ maybe a little hint of smoke.   

The real problems seemed to be along Sky Ranch Rd as DaveyTree mentions.  From reading SNO, I can only imagine the stress the parents were going through as they were trying to sort out evacuating their kids from camp.   I met a group of climbers headed to Fresno Dome who changed plans and climbed at The Balls, and there was an outdoor youth group  that came up Friday to climb in The Balls area too.   I have no idea about Shuteye.  Smoke coming from two different fires kind of hard to sort out! 

[DaveyTree]

Sounds like they will be re-opening Sky Ranch Road this Friday.

[John]

Sounds like they will be re-opening Sky Ranch Road this Friday.

Awesome news. Thx!

[mungeclimber]

Further south than ShutEye per se, but fyi if travelling around the Tollhouse and North Fork areas.

http://sierranewsonline.com/firefighters-battling-75-acre-fire-near-kerkhoff/

[DaveyTree]

Hadn't seen this one. Tks Munge

[susan]

Seems we should have seen smoke as we drove away at the end of the day Sudnay, but what consumed our views was the advancing storm. Noted a lot of fire trucks on the roads though which was concerning.

[Gerard(Jerry)Jessurun]

Know what you mean Susu......it was so dark over Fresburg with an awesome light
Show and hard rain. Was thinking of the potential for lightning strkes once the clouds build up in them thar hills.

[donutnational]

http://sierranewsonline.com/willow-fire-in-north-fork-now-at-140-acres/  The plume was huge when I came down the hill this afternoon and there has been alot of tankers flying over my house this afternoon/evening.

[John]

We got showered with ash today on Shuteye Ridge and were kinda freaked out not knowing how close it was. Smells really strong and close. Thanks for the link, donutnational. We made a special trip to our favorite reception point to see what's up.

[susan]

Thanks for posting! We were in the grayhood today and feels like Shuteye is on fire. Ash has been  falling like spindrift the better part
of the afternoon. Drove away to find reception to see what's up just now.  Gonna stay the night still. Hope this gets under control quickly. Gonna be uber depressing if not.

[susan]

Oops taking too long to post... not great reception...

[DaveyTree]

Drove through Oakhurst today. Wind moving and fire looked to be growing.

[donutnational]

Good summary of current situation:

http://sierranewsonline.com/willow-fire-now-estimated-at-over-1500-acres/

Thanks to all the hardworking firefighters.

[John]

Man that grew fast! Saw dozens of trucks coming into the area when we were leaving. We were surprised to see how close it is to Bass Lake and North Fork, right above town.

[DaveyTree]

Saw a few pics posted on FB that appeared to be from on the water. It looked pretty close to the lake. Friend who lives at YLP said mornings are smokey at her place until the wind pushes it up and out.