Big Meadows Fire

On August 26 firemen were conducting a prescribed fire near El Portal, under what were supposed to be tightly controlled conditions. At about noon the fire jumped out of its intended boundary and quickly became a large wildfire, sweeping through the Foresta and Big Meadow area toward Crane Flat in Yosemite National Park. Locally here in June Lake, we experienced some light to moderate smoke from this fire as well.

As the firefighting effort encroached State Route 120 through the Park, a section of that highway was closed from White Wolf to Crane Flat along with the Big Oak Flat Road and other area roads. Access between Yosemite Valley and many locations was hampered by the closure, although it was still possible to visit Tuolumne Meadows, Tenaya Lake and Olmstead Point from the Eastern side via Tioga Pass. Gateway communities such as Lee Vining and Groveland experienced a very noticeable reduction in tourism due to the road closures, which continued through the Labor Day weekend. The roads were reopened on the morning of Tuesday September 8, with clean-up operations and hazard tree removal continuing. The 171 firefighters had the 7,425 acre blaze contained before September 10.

You can go to the official Incident Report Page for more details.