CA-MMU- Telegraph fire - 12000+ acres - Huge Blowup, Ice capping

Updated: 1800 hrs - Telegraph Fire is approximately 12000+ acres with 5% percent containment. Fire is topography driven fire that continues to burn in canyon brush, Live Oak, Bull Pine, and Thick stands of Manzanita and Chamise with occasional extreme rates of spread, with fire on the north and south sides of the Merced River Canyon and Tuolumne River. structures threatened in the Communities of Greely Hill, Coulterville, and Mariposa and Midpines area, Mariposa County . There is a potential impact to critical community water supply infrastructure which serves the Community of Mariposa from the Mariposa Public Utility District. A main electrical distribution line into Yosemite National Park is also at risk and Communications infrastructure near MT Bullion.
Updated: 1640 hrs - Hand basket full - Huge resource orders being placed for strike teams of type 2 and 3 engines - 70 ST's , More SCU, AEU Strike teams on the way now,
Updated: 1630 hrs - Mt. Buillion Camp evacuated and structure protection in place - The Mariposa Sheriff's Department is warning residents of the town of Midpines to prepare to evacuate. Midpines is on Highway 140, near the west entrance of Yosemite National Park.
Updated: 1600 hrs - reports fire is over 5000+ acres.
Fire is 10 min from Mt Bullion repeater site, Fire is about 3 miles from MMU HQ and the town of Mariposa. Fire is heading South by Southwest, Evacuations Mosher X Whitlock to Colorado all the way to 49
Updated: 1545 hrs - Fire is spotting 1/2 mile from Rancherita Creek road,
Fire now making a huge run towards Mariposa, ice capping and making its own weather. Mt. Bullion CAL FIRE station evacuated with structure protection in route. Structures are threatened on 3 flanks.
Updated: 1525 hrs - Weather - 95 degrees with a steady 5 mph wind.
Updated: 1500 hrs - New Mandatory evacuations - Sherlock, Mosher, Whitlock, Telegraph road areas - Google Map - Telegraph Fire
Updated: 1410 hrs - New preliminary evacuations , Pre-evacuation notifications -
The head of Fire just crossed a major drainage and is heading towards the backside of Mt. Bullion approaching power lines, Current fixed wing aircraft unable to attack fire due to power lines, requesting Tanker 910

Telegraph Fire
Geo Mac/Modis fire perimeters
Map of active fire last 12 hours - California fire news

Location: Several miles northwest of Midpines, Mariposa County - near Telegraph and Sherlock roads about 40 miles northeast of Merced. Google Map - Telegraph Fire
ICP: Telegraph (CA-MMU-009779) - ICT # 8 - Fire camp being established at Mariposa County Fairgrounds.
Fire GPS: Latitude and Longitude
Lat: 37° 34´ 3" Long: 119° 59´ 49"
Cause: Undetermined
Initial Attack: 7-25-08-15:00hrs - 50 acres, Rapid ROS, well established on both sides of the Merced River, Strike teams ordered code 3, fire still on state DPA but headed towards the forest.
Current Sizeup: 1000 acres, Accessibility problems due to steep, rocky and isolated terrain.
Terrain: Rugged, Steep, remote area of Mariposa County,
Fuels: Heavy vegetation and oak trees in steep terrain , according to a Cal Fire news release. As of 7 p.m., the fire was not threatening structures.
Fire Behavior: Fire is on the north and south sides of the Merced River Canyon and showing extreme rates of spread.
Threats: Future Threat to Community of Midpines, Main Electrical Distribution Lines into Yosemite National Park, Natural Resources could be threatened within the next 12 hours
Resources: There are 750 firefighters on scene, There are 77 engines, 25 hand crews, 15 bulldozers, six air tankers, five water tenders and four helicopters.
Structure losses: No structures have been lost at this time.
Previous related posts: CA-MMU- Telegraph fire - 1000+ acres at 5% contained
Comms: MMU Local- 151.460, Air 151.310.
Air resources: 1 Air Attack, 5 Air Tankers, - T100, T82, T80, T81, T78 and four helicopters C404, C406, C551 and C1109. Tanker 910 called in today and last afternoon.
Critical Resource Needs: Type I Handcrews, Type 3 Engines, Type 2 Dozers and critical overhead.

News and notes: OSCC - GACC

7-26-08-1800 - Telegraph (CA-MMU-009779) Fire is approxiamtely 2000+ acres with 5% percent containment. Fire is topography driven fire that continues to burn in canyon brush, Live Oak, Bull Pine, and Thick stands of Manzanita and Chamise with occasional extreme rates of spread, with fire on the north and south sides of the Merced River Canyon and Tuolumne River. structures threatened in the Communities of Greely Hill, Coulterville, and Mariposa and Midpines area, Mariposa County . There is a potential impact to critical community water supply infrastructure which serves the Community of Mariposa from the Mariposa Public Utility District. A main electrical distribution line into Yosemite National Park is also at risk and Communications infrastructure near MT Bullion.

7-26-08-0800 - Telegraph (CA-MMU-009779) The fire is approximately 950 acres with 5% containment and continues to burn on the north and south sides of the Merced River Canyon. Accessibility problems are hampering suppression efforts due to steep, rocky and isolated terrain. The Community of Midpines, main electrical distribution Lines into Yosemite National Park , and Natural Resources remain threatened. There is a threat to approximately 300 homes. Evacuation warnings are in place for residences in the immediate area of the fire.

7-25-08-1800 - Telegraph (CA-MMU-009779) Fire is burning in the vicinity of Hwy 140 X briceburg bridge in Mariposa County. Fire has burned 800 + acres of heavy brush in the Merced River Drainage with fire on both sides of the River. The South side of fire has major structure loss potential in the Mid Pines subdivision area. The north side is burning unchecked with moderate to rapid rate of spread. CAL FIRE Incident Command Team 8 (IC Rambo) is being mobilized with a in briefing scheduled for 0700 7/26/08 .