CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS : Yosemite: Wawona Prescribed Fire

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Yosemite: Wawona Prescribed Fire - 700 acres

Wawona -Currently at approximately 700 acres Yosemite National Park is currently conducting an approximately 2000-acre prescribed fire near the community of Wawona, near Yosemite's south entrance. It is estimated this project will take one to two weeks to complete.

It is to be burned in three units. Unit I is 737 acres. It is bounded to the northwest by the Jack fire, west to the Wawona Road (Highway 41 outside the park), and south along the Chilnualna Falls Road.

Wawona Nw Prescribed Fire

INCIDENT UPDATED

Picture courtesy of Inciweb

Summary

Yosemite National Park is currently conducting an approximately 2000-acre prescribed fire near the communityof Wawona, near Yosemite's south entrance. It is estimated this project will take one to two weeks to complete. It is to be burned in three units. Unit I is 737 acres. It is bounded to the northwest by the Jack fire, west to the Wawona Road (Highway 41 outside the park), and south along the Chilnualna Falls Road.The prime benefit of this burn is to enhance defensible space, providing important fire protection for the community of Wawona. Fire managers want to take advantage of last fall's Jack fire and last spring's prescribed fire near the community. Fire personnel will utilize these burned areas as barriers to fire spreading north and east of the project area. It will also burn through recent fuel treatments, including thinning and pile burning, in addition to recent prescribed fires. These recent projects will increase the margin of safety for firefighters by reducing fire intensity along the project boundary.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Prescribed Fire
Cause	N/a
Date of Origin	04/09/2008 at 00 hrs.
Location	Yosemite National Park
Incident Commander	Michael Beasley

Current Situation

Total Personnel	Not available
Size	700 acres
Significant Events	Not available

Outlook

Planned Actions	Firefighters from the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service made good progress over the weekend on the large prescribed fire adjacent to the community of Wawona. The heaviest smoke impacts wioll be for the next two or three nights (Mon-Wed) as crews bring the fire down to the Wawona Road near the UC Merced Research Station and then turn the corner, progressing up the Wawona Road toward Mosquito Creek.
Remarks	Motorists should expect traffic delays, one-way traffic control and are advised to proceed slowly through smoke with lights on. Smoke concentrations in the Wawona Campground for the next two to three nights will be very unhealthful and anyone hoping to camp there should reconsider. This project protects the community of Wawona from a wildfire moving up the South Fork of the Merced and is funded under the National Fire Plan. Wawona is a Federally-listed community at high risk from wildfires.

Weather

Current Wind Conditions	Not available
Current Temperature	Not available
Current Humidity	Not available

Tags: Wawona Nw Prescribed Fire, Yosemite, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Yosemite Fire Information,
Source: Inciweb - link
Fire Information: Michael Beasley (209) 375-9574

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