New Lightning Fires in Yosemite

Saturday, October 9, 2010

New Lightning Fires in Yosemite

Over the past week Yosemite took over 1000 lightning strikes with several
new fire starts in various areas of the park.

Along with the lightning Yosemite had several inches of rainfall, giving the existing fires low
potential for growth. Each day new smokes are detected and put onto a list to be evaluated once the weather clears.

Since October 1st, Yosemite received over 1000 lightning strikes and at least 21 confirmed new fires along with about 2 - 3" of rain across the park (see attached map).

9 of the 21 new fires are near Yosemite's front country in the 'fire suppression unit'. Of those nine, four have been actively suppressed and the rest are not currently showing any smoke or could not be found.

12 of the 21 new fires are in Yosemite's 'wildland fire unit' (8 in Mariposa County and 3 in Tuolumne County) and are being considered for management under a multiple objectives strategy which includes resource benefits.

Due to the amount of rain received, only a few of those 12 are currently active and visible from park roadways. Those include the South Fork fire about a mile east of Aspen Valley and the Smokey Jack near the S. Fork Tuolumne River bridge on the Tioga Rd. - both
in Tuolumne County; and the Turner fire on Turner Ridge about a mile east
of the Wawona Road at Alder Creek.

Very little fire activity and growth is expected over the next several days until conditions dry out and firefighters will monitor all of the fires over the weekend.

Attached is the fires that YNP currently have as "active" though some are likely out.
Yosemite fire location map .pdf Link

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

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CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Saturday, October 9, 2010