YOSEMITE – The Tenaya Fire, which is burning within the designated wilderness area of Yosemite National Park is now estimated at 431 acres with 10 percent containment.
This wildfire began on Monday, Sept. 7, and was reported at approximately 9:30 p.m. The fire is being suppressed, and is very visible from all locations within the park.
The fire spread rapidly on Tuesday afternoon. For firefighter and back country visitor safety, and to protect values at risk in Yosemite Valley, air tankers and retardant are being utilized for suppression efforts.
The fire is located along both sides of the Lehamite Creek Trail from the north rim of the Valley to the Tioga Road. The fire remains active, and trail blocks are in place for this popular hiking area.
White Wolf Campground has closed for the season and is serving as a fire camp. Trails on the north rim of Yosemite Valley south of the Tioga Road and east of Yosemite Creek, to near Olmsted Point, remain closed. No other roads or facilities are closed due to the fire.
A solid anchor point has been established by hand crews at the “heel” and near the origin of the fire, and crews have begun flanking. Air Tankers continued to drop retardant to close open flank lines throughout the day.
Yosemite fire crews are being augmented by five Type 1 hand crews, five air tankers including the VLAT (Very Large Air Tanker), one Type 1, and two Type 2 helicopters, three Type 3 engine crews and fire management overhead. Additional resources have been ordered. There are 260 personnel currently assigned to the incident.
The weather remains hot, and this condition is forecast to continue until the weekend when temperatures will cool. Smoke impacts to air quality continue, however smoke production today was reportedly far less compared to this time yesterday.
There are no threats to structures and no injuries have occurred. There is no estimated containment and the cause is being investigated.
