Deadly wildfire outside Yosemite National Park doubles in size
MARIPOSA, Calif. — As the Ferguson Fire swelled to 9,266 acres Monday, residents of Mariposa, the biggest town bordering Yosemite National Park, woke up to ash in the sky and fire rigs rumbling down Highway 49. Again.
So, they pulled the ``Firefighters, Mariposa thanks you!’’ signs from their storage rooms and garages. Officials propped a plywood board reading ``fire information’’ with a few printed hand-outs stapled to it in a parking lot. Some shops closed, because tourists don’t like to visit when it is smoky, and that’s what they do when the tourists don’t come.
While visitors still braved trails, campgrounds, lodges and restaurants Monday in the California park, in Mariposa it’s the same routine, again and again.
One year ago to the day, the Det weiller Fire inched so close to Mariposa that the entire town had to be evacuated. It burned thousands of acres, and scorched the countryside bordering the community, but at least no one was killed.
On Monday, many residents were mourning the death of fire crewman Braden Varney, who authorities said was killed Saturday when his dozer flipped into a steep ravine near El Portal.
Crews retrieved the body of the 36-year-old Cal Fire veteran Monday afternoon from the mesh of mangled metal that was wedged in an area too remote for bulldozers and too precarious for an immediate extraction. Firefighters had stood sentinel over their colleague’s body, coming and going in shifts, hiking in and out of the remote niche, in a revolving honor guard.
Later, a procession to transport the body to the Stanislaus County coroner’s office drew area residents who paid their respects by lining up along the route.
The Ferguson Fire, burning in steep, rugged terrain west of the park in Sierra National Forest, is threatening 108 structures. None were destroyed as of Monday afternoon.
Alex Olow, a Sierra National Forest spokesman, said the fire is burning south and west along the Merced River canyon. Firefighters are focusing on keeping the fire out of the park and away from small clusters of houses in the area.