Prescribed fire planned for March 6th 2021

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Publication Type: Announcement Sat, 03/06/2021 - 12:00

The Hoosier National Forest is planning on conducting a prescribed fire today. A map of this location can be found attached to this announcement.

Blanton - 215 acres - Orange County - Located off of County Rd 500 near the Wesley Chapel Methodist Church.

Prescribed fires planned for March 5th 2021

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Publication Type: Announcement Fri, 03/05/2021 - 12:00

The Hoosier National Forest is planning on conducting 2 prescribed fires today. A map of these locations can be found attached to this announcement.

Bottle - 40 acres - Orange County

Johnson Schoolhouse - 134 acres - Orange County

Hoosier National Forest to conduct Prescribed Burns

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Publication Type: News Thu, 03/04/2021 - 12:00

Hoosier National Forest to conduct prescribed burns

Bedford, Indiana. March 4, 2021 —The U.S. Forest Service has begun to conduct seasonal prescribed burns to maintain, restore or improve early successional habitat, maintain wetlands, restore unique barrens ecosystems, and regenerate oak and hickory. Prescribed burns also improve soil health by recycling nutrients and reduce fuel loads, thereby lowering the risk of catastrophic wildfire.Approximately 5-6,000 acres are planned to receive prescribed burning in the spring of 2021 on National Forest System lands in the following counties: Brown, Crawford, Jackson, Martin, Monroe, Orange, and Perry.U.S. Forest Service fire managers utilize National Weather Service data to determine the best days to burn to achieve desired goals and to maximize safety. Many specific conditions must be met for a burn to occur, including fuel moisture, wind speed and direction, and relative humidity, among other factors. Decisions are generally made the day of the burn once parameters have been measured or forecasted. Therefore, advance specific notification for a particular burn can be difficult. Forest staff notifies the public in the immediate area of the prescribed burn. The public is advised to check the forest’s social media accounts for announcements of burns at www.facebook.com/HoosierNF/ and https://twitter.com/HoosierNF. Maps and additional details of the burn areas will be available at the following website: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov.All designated burn areas will not be accessible to the public on the day of the burn and for some time after the burn until the area is considered safe. If any hazards are identified within the burn area, the area may be inaccessible for several days for public safety. Burning may affect access to hunting areas. For your safety, please contact the Indiana Interagency Coordination Center dispatch (812-547-9262) if you plan to hunt or camp in or near prescribed burn areas.An unfortunate side effect of prescribed burning is smoke. Fire managers burn only under atmospheric conditions specified in a burn plan and rely on scientific data to choose days in which the impacts of smoke are minimized. Smoke plumes from a prescribed fire usually rise high into the air where the smoke dissipates. When smoke is present, motorists should reduce speeds and turn on headlights.All burns are done under carefully planned prescriptions and protocols to mitigate the risk of an escaped fire and smoke exposure to communities. All planned activities have been carefully coordinated with county emergency management agencies. Forest neighbors who wish to benotified of a specific date of a burn, or those who wish to report medical conditions that could be affected by smoke, may contact the Indiana Interagency Coordination Center Dispatcher at 812-547-9262.

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Prescribed fire planned for March 4th 2021

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Publication Type: Announcement Thu, 03/04/2021 - 12:00

The Hoosier National Forest is planning on conducting a prescribed fire today. A map of this location can be found attached to this announcement.

Mifflin - 46 acres - Crawford County - North of Hemlock Cliffs, off Old Felker Road near Mifflin.

Prescribed fire planned for March 3rd 2021

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Publication Type: Announcement Wed, 03/03/2021 - 12:00

The Hoosier National Forest is planning on conducting a prescribed fire today. A map of this location can be found attached to this announcement.

Haskins - 113 acres - Perry County, just south of Crawford County line. Located west of Doolittle Mills.

Cave Fire Update November 27 2019

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Publication Type: News Wed, 11/27/2019 - 12:00

Cave Fire Update

November 27, 2019 9:30 a.m.

Start Date: Nov. 25, 2019
Cause: Unknown
Size: 4,330 acres
Containment: 20%
Personnel: 886
Structures Threatened: 2,410 structures threatened, 0 residential structures burned
Injuries: 0

Location: Los Padres National Forest, Santa Barbara Ranger District, State Highway 154 at Painted Cave Road
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Current Situation: Active burning is still occurring and the potential for fire spread remains for the communities of Painted Cave and Trout Club, as well as residential neighborhoods in the Santa Barbara front country. However, fire activity is expected to continue to decrease due to overnight rain. This includes areas of Windy Gap, Cieneguitas Creek, Maria Ygnacio Creek and San Antonio Creek from Highways 154 south to Cathedral Oaks Road.

Weather Event: Northwest winds decreased early this morning. Significant change with cold front occurring through Friday bringing rain to fire area. Tonight’s temperatures expected to range from 45 to 50 degrees. Relative humidity is between 80 and 95 percent. Rain showers expected Wednesday morning with the potential for thunderstorms. Significant rain may require resources to seek safe conditions to avoid potential flooding.

Road Closure and Evacuations: Hwy 154 remains closed. An update from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office is expected today regarding road closures and evacuation areas. Visit www.ReadySBC.org for more information.

Evacuation Shelters: The American Red Cross has opened an evacuation shelter at the Goleta Valley Community Center located at 5679 Hollister Avenue. For animal evacuation questions and offers of assistance, call the Animal Services Hotline at (805) 681-4332. The Santa Barbara Humane Society, 5399 Overpass Road, Santa Barbara, is available to assist evacuees with small animals.

Current Fire Restrictions: The Los Padres National Forest currently does not allow open fires, wood or charcoal fires are prohibited in all areas of the forest, to include developed campgrounds. Additional Details are available on the Alerts and Notices page of the Los Padres National Forest Website.

Cave Fire Update November 26 2019

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Publication Type: News Tue, 11/26/2019 - 12:00

Cave Fire Update Fire Information Call Center - (833) 688 - 5551 https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6662/ November 26, 2019 3:30 p.m. Start Date: Nov. 25, 2019 Cause: Unknown Size: 4,262 acres Containment: 0% Personnel: 600 Structures Threatened: 2,410 structures threatened, 0 residential structures burned Injuries: 0 Location: State Highway 154 at Painted Cave Road Current Situation: Active fire behavior increased over night. Santa Barbara County proclaimed a local emergency due to the Fire, burning in the unincorporated area of the county, north of Cathedral Oaks. Weather Event: Currently, weather is a concern with extremely dry vegetation after 180 days without rain in the area. However, clouds will increase on Tuesday evening with rain anticipated after midnight. The potential rain within the system will drive incident activity. The approaching front will continue erratic gusty north winds in the fire area through tonight with peak gusts of winds up to 40 mph. Humidity is relatively low near 15% and expected to improve later tonight. Parts of southern Santa Barbara County are experiencing power outages due to impacts from the #cavefire. This outage is not related to a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). Outages have been reported in unincorporated areas between the cities of Goleta and Santa Barbara, along Highway 154 through Mission Canyon, and parts of Summerland and Carpinteria. Call SCE 1-800-611-1911 if you have any questions or visit https://www.sce.com/outage-center for outage area updates. Do not call 911 unless you have an emergency.

Information Sources: A fire information call center is staffed and available to answer your questions. The phone number is 833-688-5551. Register at www.ReadySBC.org to receive emergency alerts from Santa Barbara County. Also take note of the official social media links at the top of this page. Residents need to prepare to follow directions from emergency management officials.

Road Closure: A soft closure is in place at the 246/154 for residents. A hard closure is in place on Highway 154 at Paradise Road.

Mandatory Evacuations: Mandatory evacuations were ordered for the Cave Fire Monday night for the areas north of Cathedral Oaks Road between Patterson Avenue in Goleta and Highway 154, and the areas north of Highway 192/Foothill Road between Highway 154 and North Ontare Road in Santa Barbara. As of noon on November 26, evacuation orders were lifted for the area west of Highway 154 between Patterson and Fairview Avenue. The Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management interactive map has updated evacuation information as well as the fire perimeter. Evacuation Warning: Evacuation warnings were issued for the area between North Ontare Road and Gibraltar Road, north of Highway 192/Foothill Road. Warnings were also issued for the area between Highway 154 and El Sueno Road, between Cathedral Oaks and Calle Real. Evacuation Shelters: The American Red Cross has opened an evacuation shelter at the Goleta Valley Community Center located at 5679 Hollister Avenue. For animal evacuation questions and offers of assistance, call the Animal Services Hotline at (805) 681-4332. The Goleta Animal Shelter, 5473 Overpass Road, Santa Barbara, is available to assist evacuees with small animals. Earl Warren Showgrounds 3400 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA can accept large animals.

Drones: Drones pose a serious risk to firefighting and can cause air operations to cease. The public is reminded that “If you fly, we can’t!”

Current Fire Restrictions: The Los Padres National Forest currently does not allow open fires, campfires or charcoal fires outside of developed recreation sites or designated Campfire Use Sites even with a valid California Campfire Permit. Additional Details are available on the Alerts and Notices page of the Los Padres National Forest Website.

Highway 154 Closure

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Publication Type: Closures Tue, 11/26/2019 - 12:00

The California Highway Patrol closed Highway 154 in both directions between Highway 246 in the Santa Ynez Valley and Highway 192/Foothill Road in the Santa Barbara area.

Mississippi Woman Found Alive and in Stable Condition

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Publication Type: News Mon, 10/28/2019 - 12:00

SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, Calif. October 28, 2019 – Mary Joanna Gomez from Mississippi was found alive and in stable condition by National Park Service personnel on the afternoon of October 28th and has been in contact with her family and will be reunited with them shortly. She was found off trail about 3.5 miles over rocky and steep terrain from her vehicle.

A California Air National Guard aircraft C-130 first located an SOS spelled out with rocks on the ground and later identified a person nearby. Ground searchers responded and were able to find Mrs. Gomez cold, thirsty and hungry, but in otherwise good health.

Mrs. Gomez was reported missing by her family after missing her work shift in the Bay Area on Friday, October 25th. Her last contact with family had been the day prior while visiting Kings Canyon National Park, when she stated her intention to visit Sequoia. Her vehicle was located on the night of October 26th which helped narrow down the search zone.

For trip planning help and current conditions, visit our website www.nps.gov/seki.

Search Continues for Missing Mississippi Woman in Sequoia and Kings Canyon

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Publication Type: News Mon, 10/28/2019 - 12:00

SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, Calif. October 28, 2019 – The search for missing Mary Joanna Gomez, 56-year-old from Mississippi, continues with growing search teams and limited clues. Mrs. Gomez has been on assignment in the Bay Area as a traveling nurse, and arrived in Kings Canyon National Park on Wednesday, October 23rd on her day off. Her last communication with family was on October 24th when she text messaged her daughter with photos taken in different areas of Kings Canyon. She was expected back to work on October 25th, missed her shift, and her family reported her missing to the San Francisco Police Department.

National Park Service (NPS) staff place her in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park on the morning of Saturday, October 26th. That night, shortly before midnight, her vehicle was located along the Generals Highway near a trailhead by a park ranger. It had not been at that trailhead earlier in the day.

Multiple teams are actively searching the area surrounding her vehicle with search dogs, air craft and search teams on foot. Her husband and daughter arrived in Kings Canyon on Sunday, October 27th and are with NPS staff.

The investigation continues and all updates will be posted to the Inciweb site as it becomes available: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6655/.

If you have been in the parks since Wednesday, October 23rd, specifically in the Little Baldy area, and you think you may have seen Mrs. Gomez or her vehicle, please call the tip line at 888-677-2746.

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About Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

These two parks, which lie-side-by-side in the southern Sierra Nevada in Central California, serve as a prime example of nature’s size, beauty, and diversity. Over 2 million visitors from across the U.S. and the world visit these parks for the world’s largest trees (by volume), grand mountains, rugged foothills, deep canyons, vast caverns, the highest point in the lower 48 states, and more. Learn more at http://www.nps.gov/seki or 559-565-3341.

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