A 73- year-old Foresta woman was arrested and jailed Sept. 1 by National Park Service rangers. Her crime: going on to a neighbor’s property to get water for her garden during the Big Meadow Fire evacuation.

Ann Matteson, a 31-year resident of the Yosemite community and survivor of the 1990 A-Rock Fire, knew that NPS was planning a prescribed burn in the area on Aug. 26 as she left for a medical appointment in Merced. By the time she headed back, she could see the smoke cloud rising above her home. She used the treacherous Foresta Road to reach her residence.

When the evacuation notice came at 1 a.m. the next morning, Matteson got up and watered her garden. She had decided to stay, even though she was urged by fire crews to leave. She kept her car keys handy and knew how to escape. The power went off around 4:30 a.m., with the power, Matteson lost her water supply.

That began what Matteson describes as “an interesting week.” The first day, she said fire crews and equipment

poured in and the borders of Foresta were defended. Matteson noted her contacts with fire personnel from NPS, CAL FIRE and the US Forest Service “were all good” throughout the day.

By Sept. 1, the fire had moved upslope and officials began to let Foresta residents in to inspect their property. “I impulsively drove into Yosemite Valley to get mail and a few groceries,” Matteson wrote in a letter to the

GAZETTE. When she tried to return, she was stopped at the junction of Highways 140 and 120 and told she could not.

“My urge to return home overpowered my ability to obey orders,” Matteson said. “So I continued driving up the road toward home where my animals were waiting for me.”

It was at this point that Matteson says she began to be treated “with suspicion, hostility and contempt” by NPS law enforcement. She said she was accused of strewing flour all over the floor of a neighbor’s home, even though she was only there to remove rotting food from refrigerators. She was escorted back to her cabin by rangers and told not to leave the premises.

Matteson had run out of water at this point, save for some drinking water provided by fire fighters. She admits she “rashly” drove to a neighbor’s cabin, to which she has a key, to get water for her garden and pets. Before she could in, she was again turned back and escorted home by a ranger.

That night, she walked to a neighbors hot tub. There she was arrested for trespassing, handcuffed and taken to jail in Yosemite Valley, wearing pajama bottoms and a wet halter top.

Yosemite spokesperson Kari Cobb confirmed that Matteson had been arrested on that day. Cobb said law enforcement had repeatedly given Matteson the conditions of the evacuation, one of which was to stay on her own property. Three times Matteson was found outside the boundaries of her property. It was the third time that rangers arrested her.

Matteson was taken to jail, booked and put into a cell. “As I am extremely claustrophobic, I was terrified and in a state of panic for 12 hours,” she wrote. She found comfort in a kind jailer who came on duty around midnight. She did not sleep. “I had never been in jail before,” Matteson said.

The following morning, she donned an orange jail jump suit and was shackled at the wrist and waist and taken to court. She said there were three inmates on that day, but about a dozen law enforcement officers. She said that following the three hours it took for processing, she was “released” with a $400 fine and six-months probation and was driven home.

Cobb said Matteson was not just “released.” According to NPS records, Matteson pleaded guilty to the trespassing charge.