Firefighters battle to hold deadly Oak Fire in steep terrain of Footman Ridge

MIDPINES, Mariposa County — Firefighters continued to battle the northeastern march of the Oak Fire early Wednesday along the steep, rugged terrain of Footman Ridge as the 5-day-old wildfire grew to over 18,500 acres and has destroyed or damaged 83 structures and claimed one life.

Cal fire operations chief Justin Macomb said while crews have been successful holding the fire along Highway 140 and fortifying defenses around the community of Mariposa Pines, it was the flames march to the northeast that has officials most concerned.

The fire has become established in the steep terrain around Skeleton Creek and also on the ridge.

“We are still trying to hold Footman Ridge,” Macomb said at a fire briefing. “It (the fire) had made a hard push and we’ve reinforced Footman Ridge with a lot of our aircraft resources. Three days in a row we’ve been trying to reinforce Footman Ridge and hold it to where it’s at.”

Containment of the blaze has grown to more than 26 percent, mostly on the western edge of the blaze along Highway 140. While the flames were no longer a concern in the area, a field kitchen to set up to help evacuees was drawing attention. It was set up by the so-called Echo Company of the California State Militia’s 2nd Regiment.

While saying they were appreciative of the group’s efforts, the Mariposa County Sherriff’s Department posted on Facebook that the militia was not invited.

“We had received multiple notifications inquiring why we had ‘activated that militia’,” the post read. “We have not activated them, they are acting on their own courteous accord. We appreciate their efforts and any the efforts of other private groups or entities helping our community.”

Crews battling the fire got a break from increased humidity and lower temperatures as monsoonal moisture moved through the Sierra Nevada foothills, said a Tuesday night report by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

“Although good progress continues on the fire, there is much work to be done,” Cal Fire said.

About 6,000 residents from mountain communities were still under evacuation orders, although a few places were downgraded to advisories Tuesday afternoon.

A plume of heavy smoke from the fire drifted more than 200 miles, reaching Lake Tahoe, parts of Nevada and the San Francisco Bay Area.

More than 3,000 firefighters supported by two dozen helicopters and 94 bulldozers were battling the blaze that erupted last Friday southwest of the park, near the town of Midpines. It exploded in size on Saturday as flames churned through tinder-dry brush and trees amid the worst drought in decades.

Numerous roads were closed, including a stretch of State Route 140 that’s one of the main routes into Yosemite.

California has experienced increasingly larger and deadlier wildfires in recent years as climate change has made the West much warmer and drier over the past 30 years. Scientists have said weather will continue to be more extreme and wildfires more frequent, destructive and unpredictable.

The Oak Fire burned as firefighters also made progress against an earlier blaze that burned to the edge of a grove of giant sequoias in the southernmost part of Yosemite. The Washburn Fire, spanning a 7.6-square-mile (19-square-km) area, was 91% contained on Tuesday after burning for more than two weeks and moving into the Sierra National Forest.