[pct-l] Clover Fire Update

[Donna "L-Rod" Saufley]

Forest Service News            
Sequoia National Forest and the
Giant Sequoia National Monument
1839 S. Newcomb Street, Porterville, CA  93257
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Date: June 20, 2008	
						
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE					

Clover Fire pushes East towards the Pacific Crest Trail
	
KERNVILLE, CA: Clover Fire pushed east Friday within a quarter mile of the Pacific Crest Trail causing fire officials to alert hikers on the Trail within the fire area. 

Friday night fire fighters swept the Pacific Crest Trail from Kennedy Meadows Trailhead to the north end of the fire and no hikers were encountered as of Saturday morning. 

The Forest is restricting access on the PCT through the weekend for public safety.

“We have firefighters and Forest Patrol Officers stationed at the Kennedy Meadows Trail Head and the North end of the Clover Fire near Beck Meadows to make sure hikers don’t enter the fire area,” said Dave Allen, Safety Officer. “We will be making daily assessments to determine when hikers may safely continue on their migration north on the PCT.”

The Forest wants to encourage hikers to use alternative routes through the weekend to prevent further delay of their migration North.  The two routes the Forest recommend are the Jackass Trail (36E01) and Monache Jeep Trail (35E02) that both tie into one another and remains the Monache Jeep Trail (35E15), which heads towards Monache Meadows where they can connect with the PCT. 

The Clover Fire grew to 3,350 acres Friday and there are 165 fire personnel assigned to the Fire. Three helicopters are assigned to the incident with one more on order.  Six Type I Hotshot crews arrived today for a total 8 crews assigned to the fire. 
 
Because of the increase in fire activity and the need of more resources to manage the fire, the Sequoia National Forest ordered a Type II Incident Management Team. The Team is expected to arrive Saturday Afternoon.

Visit the Interagency “Real Time Smoke Monitoring” website to see current smoke conditions and local trends. Visit www.inciweb.org website for up to date fire information. Go to web-cams  site, which is located on Bald Mountain for live coverage and visit our alternate website Clover Google Map Link  for additional updated maps. 

For further information, contact Clover Fire Information at (760) 376-3781, extension 699.

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