Calaveras County, CA­- As of 6:30 am today, CalFire reported that the Butte Fire is now 65% contained and almost all mandatory evacuations have been lifted. In addition, the fire is expected to be 100% contained in a week. This is due to the outstanding work of huge numbers of emergency service crews and law enforcement personnel, many of whom are still based at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds.

Most Calaveras County residents have made their way back home and the majority of Calaveras tourism businesses are open and hoping for visitors this weekend. Miraculously, almost all of Calaveras County’s popular family destinations are unscathed including Moaning Cavern, Mercer Caverns, Ironstone Vineyards (and almost all of our wine industry), our museums, Calaveras Big Trees State Park, the towns of Murphys, Arnold, Angels Camp, Copperopolis, Valley Springs, Bear Valley and even historic downtown Mokelumne Hill.

Visitors should be aware that evacuation advisories remain in place for Murphys, San Andreas, Avery, Arnold and Dorrington and to be prepared to leave if a mandatory evacuation order is issued.

The outpouring of support for our community has been overwhelming – see the CVB Facebook page for details – and there are several fundraising events scheduled this weekend to benefit those who have lost their homes to the Butte Fire. Information on these events can be found on the Calaveras Visitors Bureau website. Many of the other events previously scheduled for this weekend will take place as planned, but we advise visitors to call the contact number associated with the event, if traveling far to attend. The full events calendar is available here: www.gocalaveras.com/calendar-of-events.

For those wishing to donate to the recovery efforts, information and links to the Calaveras Community Foundation and The Resource Connection can be found on the home page of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau website: www.gocalaveras.com.

If you have travel plans this weekend to Calaveras and would like more information, please contact the Calaveras Visitors Bureau, 209-736-0049 or 800-225-3764 to get updated information.