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Mariposa Residents Flee, Wait In Awe Of Fire That Could Destroy Their Town

Ezra David Romero
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Valley Public Radio
Sharon Capps is camping on a nearby plot of land, but tried to return to her home to gather valuables.

On Tuesday when the Detwiler Fire in Mariposa doubled in size residents were forced to evacuate. They were left questioning whether their homes and businesses would be engulfed in the flames approaching the town. 

Sharon Capps, her sister Janice Lindgren and I are watching a massive DC-10 plane drop load after load of retardant on a glowing hill above the old-gold mining town of Mariposa.

"Everybody has their livelihood in these places. It's all we have." - Todd Layton, Mariposa Resident

“This is really bad, it’s the biggest fire I have seen here,” Capps says. “There’s a helicopter right there. It’s going way back like way towards Yosemite.”

The sisters are camping on a plot of land one of them own not too far from here. They evacuated their homes just south of Mariposa early knowing a fire can rapidly move through the steep grassy terrain in this area.

“It looks like the wind has calmed down now, but at 4 o’clock [Tuesday] the wind was whipping,” Capps says. “You don’t want to get stuck in a whole where you can’t get out.”

Mariposa, the Gold Rush town just miles from their homes, was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after the Detwiler Fire was expected to grow. The town of around 2,000 people located just west of Yosemite National Park is in the path of the flames approaching from the north.

Credit Ezra David Romero / Valley Public Radio
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Valley Public Radio
The fire has cleared out large patches of oaks and dry grass.

Mariposa, the Gold Rush town just miles from their homes, was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after the Detwiler Fire was expected to grow. The town of around 2,000 people located just west of Yosemite National Park is in the path of the flames approaching from the north.

Koby Johns is a public information officer on the blaze. He says the drought followed by heavy rain are part of the reason why this fire has grown so big so fast.   

“Lots of tall grasses, lots of bushes and they essentially provide like a ladder to the trees,” says Johns. “A lot of those trees are dead oak trees and then you have fire spreading from tree to tree.”

Johns says the fire nearly doubled in size the first night and then again Tuesday night. He hopes crews are able to tame the blaze before it has the opportunity to spread to even more populated mountain areas nearby.

Credit Ezra David Romero / Valley Public Radio
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Valley Public Radio
As of Wednesday morning the fire's burned more than 45,000 acres and is threatening more than 1,500 homes and businesses.

  

As of Tuesday evening, officials reported that the blaze had destroyed eight structures and damaged another, with at least 1,500 other buildings threatened. Governor Brown declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County due to the blaze.

I caught Todd Layton as he was locking up his three businesses on the main drag of the historic gold-mining town of Mariposa. He got the call midafternoon that the fire was only about five miles away from the candy, souvenir and bead shops he owns in Mariposa.

Credit Ezra David Romero / Valley Public Radio
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Valley Public Radio
The town of Mariposa was evacuated Tuesday afternoon because the fire was approaching at a rapid pace.

  

“It's not that far [from here],” says Layton. “It’s all mom and pop shops. Everybody has their livelihood in these places and it's what we have. It’s all we have.”

Layton stayed open as long as he could, but says he shut down because when he walked outside the fire seemed close.

“I don’t think I’ve seen the sun orange like that, that’s for sure,” says Layton. “It looked a lot worse earlier, it’s just we have a lot more heavier and blacker ashes falling down right now.”

Sixty-five-year-old Tom Ryan is also one of the more than 1,700 residents in the area forced to evacuate. Ryan moved to the area four years ago from the East Bay and this is the second fire near his home this year.

“Around 2 o’clock an ash cloud came over,” says Ryan. “It was like it was snowing in the summertime. The smoke was getting really dark. I put my dog in the truck and left.”

With so many people evacuating the American Red Cross opened at least two evacuation centers. Ryan and his dog showed up at one in Oakhurst and was shifted to a third that opened nearby. He hopes he can return home soon.

Credit Ezra David Romero / Valley Public Radio
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Valley Public Radio
More than 2,000 people fled the area when a mandatory evacuation was put in place Tuesday.

  

For the latest news on evacuations click here...
Updated CalFire information about the Detwiler Fire...

Ezra David Romero is an award-winning radio reporter and producer. His stories have run on Morning Edition, Morning Edition Saturday, Morning Edition Sunday, All Things Considered, Here & Now, The Salt, Latino USA, KQED, KALW, Harvest Public Radio, etc.