HARLOW FIRE “Much has been written of the Mother Lode country north of Mariposa, California. Little, however, has been published about the southern end of the gold country. A serious attempt, therefore, has been made to include the histories of old-timers from all walks of life and from all the foothill areas of eastern Madera County. As these histories unfolded it became apparent that many family members married others from nearby areas. Thus the “foothill community” population was one great melting pot. Much of this material has never before been tape-recorded. Please note that the information which has been transcribed or re-printed for this publication is as accurate as the contributor's) could humanly make possible. And each contributor was encouraged to relate experiences and/or memories to the best of his/her ability. In putting this book together we have noticed at times that there are different accounts of the same incident, so we have to emphasize that each interviewee told his/her story as that individual saw it. This is not to say one was right and one was wrong; each just saw the incident from a different angle.” HARLOW FIRE - Part - 1 The day that the Harlow Fire made the big run from CHOWCHILLA RIVER, burned AHWAHNEE and NIPINNAWASEE, and came right to the outskirts of COARSEGOLD, I had to be at the ELLIOTTS, and was going back to our ranch in MADERA COUNTY. I could see that this fire was starting to burn south at a rapid rate, so 1 drove through AHWAHNEE and headed down to POISON SWITCH (on Road 600). I felt that the fire and I were going to get to POISON SWITCH at about the same time. The fire and I did get to POISON SWITCH about the same time and there was a large green, grassy area there where I parked the pickup and rolled the windows up so it wouldn’t catch fire. There was a highway patrolman parked there and he drove off, dust a-flying. I grabbed my shovel and got across the river and CROOKS CREEK to see if any sparks had come across and I could stop them. But a whole shower of sparks came down and very shortly I could see that it was a lost cause. About that time, Jim KATES drove by in a pickup and he continued on towards AHWAHNEE right through the flames. I thought if he can do it, I can too. I got in my pickup and started out and I drove through a wall of flame near where the VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS is now. Just past the hall, I could see a woman was still there. It was a woman we had previously known; she had been Missed when the people wee evacuated. I knew that to be hauled out of there in very short order or she’d burn to death because there was a big, downed bull pine behind her cabin. She was in her nightdress; I kept urging her to get some clothes on and to grab her valuables and I’d take her out of there. She said she didn’t want to leave. I told her, “Lady, if you don’t get some clothes on and get your valuables, I’m just going to have to put you in the pickup and haul you out like you are.” After a long wait, she did get some outer clothes on and I got her in the pickup and drove her up to the MECHHI’ S store and left her there. I went back to the woman’s place because I had seen a man across the street from her house who looked like he was going to stay there and try to save his buildings. When I returned, it turned out the man was one I had known all my life, Jim JORDAN.