Most of the perimeter of the Oak Fire northeast of Mariposa, California was quiet on Wednesday, with the exception of the north and northeast sides where it has continued to spread. Firefighters have constructed firelines in those areas, some of them indirect, and are making progress. It has moved one to two miles into the footprint of the 2018 Ferguson Fire.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Oak Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.
The fire was mapped Wednesday night at 19,169 acres.
The video below was shot by the FIRIS aircraft looking south at the northeast side of the fire at 9:20 p.m. July 27. White indicates heat.
CAL FIRE is using one of their new Firehawk helicopters to drop water at night
7:05 a.m. PDT July 26, 2022
Fire officials called Monday a successful day on the Oak Fire northwest of Mariposa, California, saying there was minimal growth. The 1,200 acres added paled in comparison to the rapid spread seen on Friday and Saturday. It was mapped Monday night at 18,017 acres, with most of the increase being on the east side where it is chewing through the four-year old vegetation in the footprint of the 2018 Ferguson Fire. East of Jerseydale it has advanced nearly two miles into the fire scar.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Oak Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.
Helicopters dropped 300,000 gallons of water Monday, including thousands of gallons dropped by one of CAL FIRE’s new night-flying helicopters, H-903, normally based at McClellan near Sacramento. According to tracking data recorded by FlightAware it conducted what appeared to be two fuel cycles working out of the Columbia airport 42 miles northwest of the Oak Fire. Until CAL FIRE recently purchased their 12 new Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk helicopters they were not in the night-flying business. This was one of the first fires CAL FIRE has flown at night.
The damage assessment team has been working for the last two days to identify structures affected by the fire. Monday afternoon their findings to date were released — 21 residences and 34 outbuildings have been destroyed.
Resources on the incident Monday night included 24 helicopters, 302 fire engines, 82 dozers, 68 water tenders, and 61 hand crews for a total of 2,991 personnel.
The Oak Fire northeast of Mariposa, California was very active Sunday especially on the east side where firefighters worked to minimize the spread beyond Footman Ridge and battled, successfully, to keep it from crossing Bear Clover Lane.
The blaze was mapped Sunday night at 16,791 acres.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Oak Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.
Part of the western edge of the Ferguson Fire that burned 96,000 acres in 2018 was south of Jerseydale and east of Jerseydale Road. That four-year-old footprint is not stopping the Oak Fire, but the rate of spread and intensity is greatly diminished as it burns, giving firefighters more options to put in direct fireline on the edge where they can, and construct indirect lines out ahead. Drops from helicopters and air tankers are also more effective in the lighter fuels.
While personnel have their hands full slowing or stopping the spread on the east and north sides, the south and west perimeters are looking much better. Direct fire line has been completed in many areas and tactical burning has helped to secure the edge.
In a community meeting Sunday evening fire officials said that soon after the fire started at 2:10 p.m. Friday it was creating spot fires two miles ahead of the main fire. At that time there was little the limited number of firefighters at the scene could do other than protect lives and structures and help with evacuations.
The number of structures reported as having been destroyed remains at 10, but that number will change after the two-person damage assessment team begins to report their findings, which may be released today.
Resources on the incident include 17 helicopters, 225 fire engines, 58 dozers, 23 water tenders, and 51 hand crews for a total of 2,093 personnel.
The video below has excellent footage of air tankers dropping retardant on the Oak Fire. You’ll see in order, DC-10 with a lead plane, BAe-146, DC-10 making a downhill drop, and finally an S-2T.
The Oak Fire two miles northeast of Mariposa, California was active on all sides Saturday and into the night. Most of the overnight movement was on the east side which saw the largest growth, spreading for one to two miles east and northeast, crossing Jerseydale road and surrounding a fire station on the road. It moved into the footprint of the Ferguson Fire which burned more than 96,000 acres four years ago.
When the fire was mapped at 10:46 p.m. Saturday night it was spreading toward Bear Clover Lane north of Jerseydale. It was six miles from Yosemite National Park, with the burn scar from the Ferguson Fire in between.
As you can see in the photo below, at 8 a.m. Sunday it was already creating a large plume of smoke.
CAL FIRE reported Sunday morning at 7 a.m. it had burned 14,281 acres since it started Friday afternoon. The number of structures destroyed remained at 10.
On the south, it crossed Triangle Road then reached and crossed in some places Darrah Road.
“The fire is moving quickly. This fire was throwing embers out in front of itself for up to 2 miles yesterday,” Daniel Patterson, a spokesman for the Sierra National Forest said Saturday. “These are exceptional fire conditions.”
As of the Saturday night mapping flight the west side has remained east of Highway 140 in the Midpines area.
Evacuations are in effect. Mariposa County maintains a map online showing the affected areas.
Resources assigned include 17 helicopters, 225 fire engines, 58 dozers, 23 water tenders, and 51 hand crews for a total of 2,093 personnel.
The Oak Fire has spread to the east quite significantly, crossing Jerseydale Road about two miles south of Jerseydale in the vicinity of Wild Dove Lane.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Oak Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.
That puts it less than a mile west of the footprint of the very large Ferguson Fire which burned more than 96,000 acres in 2018. It was caused by a hot catalytic converter on a vehicle that parked in dry grass July 13, 2018 along Highway 140 near the Savage Trading Post.
The Oak Fire is exhibiting extreme fire behavior, igniting spot fires far ahead of the main fire.
CAL FIRE announced that at 6:45 p.m. it had burned 11,900 acres.
Updated 5:00 p.m. PDT july 23, 2022
At approximately 4:20 p.m. Air Attack reported that the latest mapping of the Oak Fire showed had grown to 11,500 acres.
Updated 12:58 p.m. PDT July 23, 2022
At 11:15 a.m. Saturday the Oak Fire was mapped by Air Attack at 9,100 acres.
CAL FIRE confirms 10 structures have been destroyed. That number will likely increase.
Updated at 8:35 a.m. PDT July 23, 2022
The Oak Fire at Midpines, California was active throughout much of Friday night, growing by about 2,200 acres between 10 p.m. and 4:25 a.m. Saturday when it was mapped by FIRIS at 6,555 acres. Half an hour after sunrise it was putting up two smoke columns that were quite some distance apart, with one of them creating enough energy to be capped by a pyrocumulus cloud.
Just to be clear — wildfires normally lay down at night, providing an opportunity for firefighters to move in closer and put in direct fireline. It is not common for a fire to be burning so actively soon after dawn that it is creating multiple smoke columns, especially a pyrocumulus column.
The Mariposa County Sheriff has ordered evacuations as far south as Highway 49 and east to Jerseydale. Their map is available online. As we wrote earlier, this is a dangerous fire.
The Oak Fire is spreading rapidly. When it was mapped at 4:25 a.m. Saturday it had spread south across Triangle Road and reached Darrah Road. At that time it was about a half mile west of the community of Darrah. Firefighters were planning a burning operation between Triangle Road and Darrah Road west of the town.
Weather
The spot weather forecast for the area predicts hot and dry conditions to persist into next week. Winds will be generally light, except becoming gusty in the afternoons. On Saturday, mostly sunny skies, 90 to 94 degrees, 9 to 13 percent relative humidity, and 6 to 12 mph ridgetop winds from the south to southwest gusting to 20 mph in the afternoon. Saturday night will see poor humidity recovery, 26 to 31 percent, with very light winds. For Sunday, 10 to 14 percent RH with afternoon ridgetop winds out of the west at 4 to 8 mph.
10:36 p.m. PDT July 22, 2022
The Oak Fire that started Friday afternoon in Central California has been growing rapidly in Mariposa County. The County Sheriff has ordered evacuations for several areas east and southeast of Midpines. At 10 p.m. Friday it was about 4 miles northeast of Mariposa.
This is a dangerous fire. Residents should not hesitate to evacuate if there is any doubt about their safety.
At 5:09 p.m. it was mapped at 1,745 acres; at about 10 p.m. CAL FIRE reported it had grown to 4,350 acres.
A fire in California that reportedly had a great deal of potential was stopped at 100 acres Tuesday by an aggressive initial attack. The Oak Fire northeast of Sonora was reported at 1:23 p.m. and was attacked quickly by troops on the ground, S-2s that were 10 minutes away at Columbia Air Attack Base, a very large air tanker, and a C-130. The Oak Fire and another fire nearby, the Hill Fire, burned together which then was only referred to as the Oak Fire.
KCRA reported that firefighters attending training at a nearby conference center had to be evacuated.