Mariposa residents relieved as French fire moves away from town
MARIPOSA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The French Fire has been burning the County of Mariposa for five days, covering more than 900 acres with 60% containment.
From Mariposa, residents can no longer see any flames or smoke, but the hills are left charred.
“Those guys need a big pat on the back,” said Mariposa resident Steven Henderson.
Mariposa residents are overwhelmed with gratitude now that the fire has shifted north and away from town.
“You have Cal Fire, you have all their subsidiaries and their contractors,” Henderson said. “And without them, this would have been another paradise.”
Steven Ward, Assistant Chief for the Mariposa Division of Cal Fire, said that all weekend, the department had been strengthening the current fire lines.
He says that there had been little to no movement from the fire, they were just working on putting the fire out.
“At present, we’re at 11 structures either damaged or destroyed,” Ward said.
Brothers Bob and Jim Gilbert came very close to losing their home to the fire.
“My daughter and her daughter think we’re heroes because, you know, ‘my grandpa saved the town,’” Jim Gilbert said. “Well, no, not necessarily, there are so many other people involved here, we just saved a little bit right here.”
When they heard the fire was coming close to their property, which has been in the family for nearly 40 years, they sprang into action.
“I really wasn’t dressed for it, I came down in shorts and flip-flops and wasn’t expecting to do what we did that night,” Jim explained. “
Grabbing water hoses, the brothers started spraying the yard.
“My heart was going crazy because I could see the fire was just was above the trees, you know, and the trees were almost like exploding,” Jim said.
The flames came less than 50 yards from their house.
“And so we lifted up a prayer to God that please help us, right about that time, the wind changed, instead of going towards us, he blew away,” Jim said.
Fire cruise arrived just in time, sparing their property and their neighbors.
Cal Fire added that several firefighters sustained minor injuries in the fire; however, none of them were hospitalized.
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