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Thunderstorms Roll Through Causing Multiple Fires

MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES–Who would have expected such an intense weather weekend in July? Several thunderstorms made their way through the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada Mountains early in the weekend. Sunday morning culminated in an intense thunderstorm moving through the foothills.

It all began with warnings from The National Weather Service (NWS) that thunderstorms would move through the area over the weekend. This prompted a fire weather watch and elevated fire danger that we posted here. The NWS expected “dry” lightning in areas with dead and dry fuels.

Friday evening and Saturday resulted in a few thunderstorms making their way through the higher elevations. The majority of the lightning striking in areas of Yosemite National Park. Sunday morning was a very different story. Very early, residents woke up to extremely loud thunder and rain. Along with that came multiple lightning strikes in the foothills and mountains.

The earliest confirmation of a fire came in from the CALFIRE Madera-Mariposa-Merced (MMU) Unit. It was reported as a residential structure fire caused by a lightning strike located in North Fork. The next confirmation included 3 fires within 1000 feet of each other. These were located off Road 225 and Happy Oak in North Fork. These fires became the “5-2, 5-3, and 5-4” fires. They were all approximately 30 foot by 30 foot spots with slow rates of spread.  These 3 fires were soon under containment.

Sierra National Forest (SNF)

From the SNF Facebook page: The Sierra National Forest (SNF) is experiencing a substantial increase in new fire starts due to thunderstorms and dry lightning that occurred over the area on July 13, 2024. In anticipation of the storms, the SNF had pre-positioned resources to respond throughout its Bass Lake and High Sierra Ranger Districts.

Fourteen new fires started over the July 13 weekend: eight on the Bass Lake Ranger District and six on the High Sierra Ranger District. Given current conditions and resource availability, a 100% “Full Suppression” approach is taking place.

These wildfires pose challenges to the landscape and to the community. SNF Fire Crews and a variety of pre-positioned resources are working tirelessly in response to these new starts, and 5 of the 14 have already been contained.

Most notable of the fires include the Owl Fire located in the Whisky Snowmobile Trail area NW of Cascadel Woods in Eastern Madera County. The most recent update for this fire is that it is showing minimal smoke and crews are mopping up.

The bulk of the fires on the Bass Lake Ranger District occurred in Mariposa County. These are in an area North and West of Jerseydale. They include the Mine, Nutmeg, Iron, Zip and Wallow Fires. Helicopters and air tankers have been diligently working the fires while ground crews work their way into these highly inaccessible locations. The fires have spread minimally with the largest being the Mine Fire last reported to be between 1 and 2 acres.

Yosemite National Park (YNP)

From the YNP Fire and Aviation Facebook page: After receiving multiple lightning strikes in the park, 9 new fires have been detected. The fires are all less than 1/10th of an acre in remote areas of Yosemite. There are no anticipated closures. Response has included engines, helicopter, and crews hiking in. At last report, 6 of the fires are now under containment.

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