Dunlap organizations impacted by June Lightning Complex Fire

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The playground remained empty Thursday afternoon at Dunlap School as the the June Lightning Complex fire continues to burn in eastern Fresno County.

"When our power goes out, we of course lose power and water to the facilities," said Kristen Welton, learning director at Dunlap School.

Welton says after being without power for days it was finally restored, but safety is the main priority.

"We've also had many of our families who were displaced in the lower mountain areas due to the fire, so we did close down our program," said Welton.

Welton adds the Highway 180 closure also makes it difficult for the nearly 120 students enrolled in the four-week summer program to get to campus.

"With it being such a large bussing community, our bus drivers are amazing but we do have lots of road closures, which does limit our accessibility to different areas on the mountain," said Welton.

Project Survival Cat Haven is also impacted by the road closure signs.

"Not only do we as staff have to be ready to go because we can't just evacuate like 100 yards down the road. We have to go like two to three hours," said cat keeper Heather Gibson.

Gibson says they are staying put right now, but they are still ready to leave at a moment's notice.

She says as wildfire season continues, they are still working to ensure all the cats are crate-trained if they have to pack up.

"We now have one behind us, the Basin fire is about 8 miles to the north of us. So, that was a new development in the last 24 hours that we are keeping an eye on," said Gibson.

The cat haven says if they have to leave, some of the cats will go to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo while the rest will have to head to Frazier Park.

Both Dunlap School and the cat haven are monitoring the fire and conditions closely to see when they can reopen.

For news updates, follow Brianna Willis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.