It started as a prescribed burn but it became much more.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection had hoped to burn about 450 acres of grass and brush southwest of Mariposa and south of Highway 140 Tuesday.
But the CHP and CalTrans had to scramble to close the roadway when the controlled burn went out of control.
The first notification was issued just after 1pm.
One lane of the roadway was reopened by 1:30pm, and officers were escorting traffic through a single lane, one direction at a time.
The fire was again brought under control after 2pm according to the CHP.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 4:43 pm