Scramble to protect giant sequoia trees as swift fire grows at Yosemite National Park
THE LATEST: Fire growth continues, more firefighters on way
There was concern for people and centuries-old trees as the Washburn Fire in Yosemite National Park continued growing Saturday.
About 700 people were forced to evacuate homes and campgrounds. Park spokesperson Scott Gediman said the fire has been long-range spotting with embers being carried past fire lines toward Wawona. Incident managers evacuated the area about 4 p.m. Friday.
Areas that were evacuated were the Wawona Hotel, Wawona campground and the community of Wawona, a private community with about 80 homes surrounded by the park.
A fire shelter has been set up at the New Life Church located at 5089 Cole Road in Mariposa, park officials said in a news release.
The southern entrance on Highway 41 into the park was closed Friday, but the park remained open. Visitors traveling to the south could detour to the Highway 140 entrance along the Merced River.
“The safety of the visitors and employees is the most important,” Gediman said. “The evacuation was clearly based upon safety of the visitors, employees and residents is our No. 1 priority, and the protection of our park resources.”
The fire grew about 300 acres in the half-day since evacuations began, reaching 703 acres according to a Saturday morning report from incident commanders. More than 200 fire personnel are working to put out the flames, with more expected to arrive in the coming days.
The fire is fueled by a significant amount of dead and down trees, incident officials said. Weather conditions in the coming days are expected to be hot and dry in the area.
Protecting giant sequoias in Mariposa Grove
Mariposa Grove is home to some 500 giant sequoia trees, which can grow to more than 250 feet tall. Grizzly Giant, the most well-known tree in the Mariposa Grove, is 209 feet and one of the largest trees in the world. It is estimated to be between 2,000 and 3,000 years old.
None of the treasured giant trees have been affected, but crews began to wrap the trees with foil wrap on Friday.
“We can’t do all of them,” Gediman said. “They’ve done a few of them and I don’t know how many, but it’s a preventative measure.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The Washburn Fire was reported Thursday afternoon near the lower Mariposa Grove close to the Washburn Trail.
The fire is 0% contained.
“We’re continuing the air tankers,” Gediman said. “We have a lot of air support. The ground support has been great. We have the Type-2 incident management team that is getting set up right now and we’re going to continue to work with them. We’re still in full suppression mode.”
He added that no structures have been damaged and no injuries were reported.
