The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post on Monday that “Sheriff Boudreaux has issued an evacuation order for the following residences in the Mineral King area, Gateway, to the Park Entrance including Sycamore Dr.”
The post continued, “The area will include Mineral King Rd from Highway 198 to the Oak Grove Bridge, including Crest, Sierra King, Hammond, and Oak Grove. There will be a road closure at Highway 198 at Mineral King Rd.”
The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office noted that an evacuation warning remains in place for residents near “Old Three Rivers Rd and Blossom Dr to South Fork Dr.”
The KNP Complex Fire, which is burning inside California’s Sequoia National Park, has burned at least 62,761 acres and is currently just 20 percent contained.
The fire was caused by lightning and was first reported by officials on September 10. At least 1,357 fire personnel are working to contain the fire, including 26 crews, 61 engines, 40 water tenders, 21 dozers and 12 helicopters.
According to a Sunday update posted on the national wildfire incident system, InciWeb, fire officials said, “Active fire behavior is expected as a ridge of high pressure remains over the fire bringing continued hot, dry, and smoky conditions. Humidity levels are expected to remain low while winds will continue to be light and terrain driven.”
“Firefighters had another successful day because the smoke inversion kept fire activity from becoming extreme,” the InciWeb update said. “Today, firefighters anticipate similar conditions depending on how weather and smoke lift out later in the day. Structure protection and tactical firing operations continue on the northwest corner of the fire.”
Wildfire season in Southern California usually begins in October and runs through September but during a press briefing in early September, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Chief Thomas Porter warned that wildfire season was “far from over.”
“For September through December, the entire state shows dryer, more wind events and large fire activity to continue,” Porter said during the press briefing. “That is sobering. That is the new reality. That’s what we’re looking at it.”
According to data from the National Interagency Fire Center, there are currently 10 active wildfires across California, which have burned almost 2 million acres. The Dixie Fire in northern California has remained the largest active wildfire in the state, burning over 960,000 acres.