YOSEMITE VILLAGE, Calif. As the “Rim” fire reached its second week and continued to burn forest land in Northern California, a credit union branch here appears to be out of immediate danger.
On Tuesday the Rim fire earned the dubious distinction of becoming the seventh-largest fire in California history. It mostly has burned in the Stanislaus National Forest, but also has damaged parts of Yosemite National Park.
Yosemite Credit Union here, which became a division of Modesto, Calif.-based Valley First CU via merger four years ago, was approximately 45 miles away from the flames at press time, according to Anita Morphew, VP of marketing for Valley First CU.
“It is okay right now, unless the fire comes over the ridge and down into the [Yosemite] valley,” she told Credit Union Journal. “The Yosemite branch has not seen much smoke or ash because the wind is blowing in a different direction. The biggest effect it has seen is all the road closures.”
Tuolumne County, where part of the Rim fire has burned, is in Valley First CU’s field of membership. It also serves Stanislaus County and has a branch in Oakdale. “That branch also is about 45 miles from the fire in the opposite direction, to the west, but given the terrain it probably is okay,” she said.
Valley First CU has a 10-county charter with branches as far south as Fresno, as far west as Tracy and far north as Stockton, Morphew explained. She said the Yosemite Village branch is the easternmost in its system.
“When we merged with Yosemite Credit Union four years ago we wanted to preserve the brand and image it had in Yosemite, even though we are well known here.”
For updated information, see the Active Fire Mapping Program for the U.S. Forest Service at:
