A 75-acre wildfire triggered early-morning evacuation orders for Tuolumne City and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians Friday, according to Tuolumne County officials. The fire is at 0% containment.
Deputies were first notified about a vegetation fire at 11:44 p.m. in a canyon near Tuolumne, the county’s sheriff’s department said. Five hours later, evacuation orders were issued for nearby communities.
Residents living in Ponderosa Hills, the Tuolumne Rancheria area, and the Tuolumne Mira Monte area are under evacuation as of Friday morning. The northeast portion of Tuolumne City was initially under evacuation, but that order has since been lifted.
Nearly the entire Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians Reservation is under an evacuation order. The tribe is one of the original unratified treaties of California and purchased the reservation’s land on Oct. 26, 1910, land that is now home to 200 residents and another 200 non-resident members of the tribe. The tribe is one of many that practice cultural and prescribed burning which benefits both ecological and cultural resources.
There were initially multiple evacuation centers set up after the fire was reported, but those centers have since consolidated into a single site at the Sonora Senior Center at 540 Greenley Road. The evacuation center also accepts small animals.
“CAL FIRE Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit, Stanislaus National Forest, and Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office are in unified command of the Canyon Fire,” officials said. “Firefighters continue to construct fireline with direct attack, steep terrain and dense fuels are contributing to the fires growth.”
