(UPDATE at 8:55 a.m. PDT, September 10, 2014)
The spread of the Meadow Fire in Yosemite National Park in California has slowed, but still grew by about 100 acres on Tuesday to a total of 4,500 acres. As predicted, sunny weather and much lower relative humidity enabled some spot fires to become more active. There was also some isolated crowning and torching. On Wednesday the weather will be similar, but with stronger winds gusting up to 15 mph out of the west in the afternoon.
Firefighters are staying overnight in spike camps at several locations to reduce helicopter flights into the wilderness, but helicopters are being used to support crews with water drops. The highest priority is to secure the west flank to allow the trail to Half Dome to open.
The National Park Service has settled the issue of the origin of this fire, writing on InciWeb that it was an expansion of the fire that had been monitored since July 19, exacerbated by a wind event, rather than it being a new fire that started on Sunday.
Professional photographer Michael Frye posted some excellent photos of the fire on his web site.
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(UPDATE at 8:35 a.m. PDT, September 9, 2014)
The Meadow Fire in Yosemite National Park has grown to about 4,400 acres and was still very active when it was mapped Monday night. Rain showers passed through the area Monday morning but the precipitation may have evaporated before much of it hit the ground, since a weather station in Yosemite Valley did not detect any rain. Another weather station about 12 miles northwest of the fire measured 0.07 inches.
The Meadow Fire was first reported on July 19 but was not suppressed. It had spread to cover 19 acres while it was being monitored, until Sunday, September 7 when it began to grow rapidly pushed by a very strong wind.
On Sunday 85 hikers and climbers were evacuated from the summit of Half Dome by helicopters from the California Highway Patrol, U.S. Forest Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, and CAL FIRE.
High humidities assisted firefighters on Monday, slowing the spread of the fire, but the RH will lower into the 20s on Tuesday and no rain, in fact no clouds, are in the forecast for several days.
Cooper’s Type 2 Incident Management Team assumed command of the fire Monday. No information about the fire has been posted on InciWeb, however we found some updates on Facebook and the park’s website.
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(UPDATE at 5:11 p.m. PDT September 8, 2014)
The NPS announced Monday morning that the fire in Yosemite has been mapped at 2,582 acres, up from the 700 acres reported late Sunday.
This time-lapse video of the fire is fascinating. It gets better at 0:21 after the camera is moved out of the bottom of the valley.
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(UPDATE at 8:43 a.m. PDT, September 8, 2014)
Above is an updated look at the Meadow Fire in Yosemite National Park, Monday morning at 8:26 local time.
Photograph of the #MeadowFire in #Yosemite at about 8:45 p.m. yesterday from Washburn Pt.: #yosemitefire pic.twitter.com/urKCE2ZoCV
— Michael Frye (@MFryePhoto) September 8, 2014
Daylight view shows scope of fire pic.twitter.com/jcau9uOSvP — RichSeiling (@richseiling) September 8, 2014
The National Situation Report on Monday said structures are threatened.
A local meteorologist reported that the fire area was receiving some rain Monday morning at 8:39 PDT.
Check out the #Rain in #Yosemite right now directly on the #MeadowFire. Yeah! pic.twitter.com/NuJWLTus0x — Justin Sacher (@justinsacher) September 8, 2014
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(Originally published at 12:41 a.m. PDT, September 8, 2014)
The Meadow Fire just east of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park in California has required the evacuation of about 100 hikers. A helicopter flew tourists off of the top of Half Dome while backpackers on hiking trails in some areas were told to leave the area.
The National Park Service on their Facebook page said the fire, detected at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, may have grown from the Meadow fire that has been burning since July 20, 2014. Park Spokesperson Jim Tucker said, “Firefighters have been monitoring the flames for 49 days. In that time, it grew to 19 acres. However, a spark from that blaze has now ignited this larger fire.”
The fire quickly grew to 700 acres Sunday afternoon.
The new phase of this fire, burning at about 7,000 feet, is being fully suppressed. Six Hotshot Crews and Cooper’s Type 2 Incident Management Team are en route.
The fire has crossed the Merced River in Little Yosemite Valley in the Yosemite Wilderness. At about 8 p.m. on Sunday a Park spokesperson said the estimated size was 700 acres.
On September 4 the Park posted the following update on the Meadow Fire:
This is a remote, hold-over lightning caused fire. Yosemite Fire Module 1 hiked into the fire area September 3. They are mapping, taking weather and monitoring the fire behavior. The fire is approximately 19 acres in size, with sixty percent of the perimeter active. It is creeping through red fir and lodgepole pine, and is surrounded by granite knobs. It is northeast of Mount Starr King and south of Starr King Meadow. Smoke from the fire is visible from many park locations, and in particular, Glacier Point area and in Yosemite Valley during the morning hours. Smoke is likely to continue to be visible until the park receives precipitation.
On September 4 they were also monitoring but not suppressing three other fires in the park that had been burning since July 16, 2014.
Yosemite National Park remains open as well as the facilities within Yosemite Valley. Trails near the Half Dome area, the Little Yosemite Valley area (a backcountry camping area near Half Dome), Merced Lake and Sunrise High Sierra Camps, Clouds Rest, and Echo Valley are closed due to fire activity. All roads leading into Yosemite remain open.
Click on the photos below to see larger versions.
