The South Fork fire is burning one mile east of the community of Wawona upstream of Swinging Bridge in the South Fork of the Merced River drainage. The fireline is holding north of the South Fork and east of Chilnualna Creek. Air resources will continue to assist the firefighting effort in dropping retardant and water on the west and south flanks of the fire. Smoke is expected to be heavy in the fire area and adjacent communities and is likely to be very dense in Wawona in the evenings and mornings. Community members who are sensitive to smoke may want to close their windows and doors and monitor the air quality links below. The South Central Sierra Interagency Incident Management Team (Deron Mills IC) assumed command of the fire at 6:00 AM on August 16th.
Current Closures
- Wawona Campground
- Bridalveil Creek Campground
- Big Trees Golf Course
- Wawona mule rides are not operating
- The Badger Pass-Glacier Point shuttle will not operate until further notice as the incident command post is occupying the Yosemite Ski and Snowboard Area facility and parking lot. The Glacier Point Road will remain open to the public, however, it will close periodically between 10am and 5pm each day when parking at Glacier Point fills to capacity (and will reopen when sufficient space is available). Traffic delays should be expected.
- Rapid Notify is a community alert system for rapid event notifications. Register by visiting www.alert.rapid notify.com
- Nixle is a public-safety notification system. Sign up for emergency alerts by texting 95389 to 888-777 or visit their website at www.nixle.com
- Fire Information: Yose_Fire_Info@nps.gov
- Yosemite National Park Fire Information website: http://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/fireinfo.htm
- Facebook, search: Yosemite Fire and Aviation
- Twitter, search @YosemiteFire : http://www.twitter.com/YosemiteFire
- Air Quality: https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/aqmonitoring.htm orhttps://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.local_city&mapcenter=0&cityid=533
Basic Information
| Current as of | 8/16/2017, 1:15:59 PM |
|---|---|
| Incident Type | Wildfire |
| Cause | Unknown |
| Date of Origin | Sunday August 13th, 2017 approx. 02:30 AM |
| Location | 1 mile east of the community of Wawona |
| Incident Commander | Deron Mills |
| Incident Description | Supression |
Current Situation
| Total Personnel | 253 |
|---|---|
| Size | 2,296 Acres |
| Percent of Perimeter Contained | 5% |
| Estimated Containment Date | Sunday September 03rd, 2017 approx. 12:00 AM |
| Fuels Involved | Timber (Litter and Understory) Brush (2 feet) |
| Significant Events | Moderate creeping, backing, flanking |
Outlook
| Planned Actions | Continue to utilize air resources and tie fire into natural barriers. Assess need for trail closures. |
|---|---|
| Projected Incident Activity | 12 hours: Continue to aggressively suppress fire spread toward community of Wawona on west flank of fire. Camp Wawona and homes on Chilnualna Falls Ridge, voluntary evacuation. 24 hours: Prepare community for potential evacuations. 48 hours: Direct line construction on west edge of fire and actively monitor potential spread to avoid fire getting south of the South Fork of the Merced river. Aggressively suppress any spot fires in that area. 72 hours: Secure south edge of the fire and keep contained to South fork of Merced, secure west flank. Priority is protection of life and property of Wawona and Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias |
| Remarks | The South Central Sierra Interagency Incident Management Team took command of the fire at 6am on August 16th. |
