Dec 31, 2020 01:21 pm
The year 2020 had many terrible fires and COVID-19, for Mother Lode it was also a year for wildlife sightings, gardening, astronomy, and more.
The three most-read news stories on myMotherLode.com in 2020 were related to what became the 2,800-acre Moc Fire which ignited on August 20. It threatened Hetch Hetchy infrastructure and spurred widespread evacuation orders in Groveland and Pine Mountain Lake. President Donald Trump approved FEMA funding for Tuolumne County in October for the Moc Fire in a federal disaster declaration which also covered other large fires in the state. An overview of how close the fire came to becoming even more destructive and the work that went into preventing a catastrophe were detailed here.