2,500-Acre Stanislaus Forest Fire Largely Under Control

A 2,500-acre arson fire in Northern California’s Stanislaus National Forest, which threatened several Mother Lode communities over the weekend, was largely under control Sunday, authorities said.

The fire had scorched drought-parched terrain only 150 yards from homes in the Confidence Road area between Tuolumne City and Twain Harte in the eastern Sierra Nevada north of Yosemite National Park--and forced the evacuation of 400 people there, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Mary Hale. “Remarkably,” she said, no structures were damaged.

By 6 a.m. Sunday, the efforts of about 2,500 firefighters from throughout California had paid off: 90% of the blaze was contained and officials estimated that it would be controlled by 6 p.m. today.

Fighting the fire cost nearly $2 million, said Hale, and officials will seek to recover their costs from any suspect convicted in the arson.

Arson investigators, she added, are expecting to arrest at least one suspect for starting the blaze Thursday afternoon in the remote Riverside campground of the forest.

The fire raced over and down Mt. Provo, then along the fork of the Tuolumne River southeast toward Twain Harte, a wooded foothill town of 4,000 named after authors Mark Twain and Bret Harte.

There, the fire came dangerously close to about 400 homes and cabins, Hale said. As the fire spread toward the north fork of the river, homes in the Tuolumne River Canyon communities of Mi-Wuk Village, Sugarpine and Sierra Village were endangered.

Firefighters on the ground, helped by 100 engines, helicopters and air tankers, halted the blaze Saturday before evacuations were necessary.