Fires

As of 0600 Tuesday, June 24, 2008 several significant fires continue to burn outside Yosemite National Park due to the weekend's lightning strikes.

The Oliver Complex, burning on the Sierra National Forest, is currently at over 1300 acres with about 5% containment. This complex, which includes 14 fires, has threatened homes in some areas.

FOR EVACUATION INFORMATION: Please call the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office Hotline at 209/966-1133.

For fire information, please contact the Sierra National Firest at 559/877-2218.

The North Mountain fire is burning in the Stanislaus National Forest between Cherry Creek and the Tuolumne River. It is currently approximately 600 acres. It's progress has been impeded by the low fuel loads resulting from 2004's Early Fire, and has not yet reached the park boundary. This fire was transitioned yesterday to management by a Type 2 team. Information can be found by calling 209 532-6371.

The webcams make the Valley look like a horrible smoky mess :-(

http://www.yosemite.org/vryos/index.htm

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Wilderness forever,
Bruce Jensen

I just had a look at the webcams
http://www.yosemite.org/vryos/index.htm
and wow, what a disappointing view it would be for a valley visitor now. The air quality shows in the unhealthy category.
(the Sentinel Dome cam shot is old...June 12, and the Tioga shot is ancient)

Might give it a second thought if heading up there now; maybe the high country's not as bad though(?).

Edit: looks like Bruce and I were looking at the same time...he beat me to the finish line 8^)



Post Edited (06-25-08 11:55)

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Gary
Yosemite Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse/yo

Yesterday haze from the smoke never cleared driving from Tahoe to the Los Angeles area. It was the same the day before from Lassen to Tahoe.

Lastest map of fires near Yosemite:

What is that fire in the canyon just west of Yosemite Valley? Is that really new, or very small? There was no sign of it Friday as we left the park...

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Wilderness forever,
Bruce Jensen

The fires didn't start until the lightning on Saturday.

Fires near Yosemite National Park

The North Mountain Fire on the Stanislaus National Firest is at 1,128 acres and is 25% contained.

The Silver Complex on the Sierra National Forest (formerly known as the Oliver Complex) is comprised of several fires: The Westfall is 105 acres 100% contained; Silverknob is 480 acres, 60% contained; Chiquito is 52 acres at 60%; Star Fire is 180 acres at 0% containment.

The Oliver Fire (formerly part of the Oliver Complex but now managed alone) is approximately 2,000 acres and is 20% contained.

About 200,000 acres have burned from all the fires in CA. Most of these fires are from the lightning burst over the weekend that affected so much of the state. This number isn't exact but it is a very good estimate.

The following link really shows the amount of fire (and smoke) that the state is experiencing:

http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/index.php?subset=AERONET_Fresno.2008176.terra.500m

Billy and I hiked out to the North Mountain lookout a couple of years ago. A fire had gone through the area some time before and had burned the cabin there to the foundation. The fuel load is probably so low now that not much will come of this fire.

One possible benifit of fighting this fire is that maybe the roadbed that runs from Miguel Meadow to the lookout tower will get the deadfall removed. It is a great hike.

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Old Dude

Um... can you say... "trail not maintained"?

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Everything I know I learned from

Here is another good link to see where the smoke plume is located.
http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm