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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

California Fire News

Posted: 19 Nov 2007 11:00 PM CST

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite Fire Information Update #12
November 19, 2007

The Jack fire north of Wawona continues to burn and is being managed as a suppression fire. There is verylittle fire history within the fire perimeter area. The last entry of fire into the area was the Turner prescribedfire in 1996. The prevailing conditions, shorter daylight hours, cooler nights and elevated moisture levels in the vegetation, is conducive to managing this fire until a season ending weather system puts them out.The fires this year in Lake Tahoe and Southern California are a reminder that is important to use fire as an ecological restoration tool as well as to create defensible space around fire prone communities.

Jack Fire – This fire is located in Mariposa County. The fire is approximately 330 acres.
It started by lightning on October 29, and was managed as a Fire Use Incident (wilderness fire). On November 8, it spread into the defined suppression zone and became a suppression fire (to be put out). The north part of the fire will be allowed to progress into defined wilderness areas. The south part of the fire, that which is nearest the community of Wawona, fires lines have been constructed to inhibit fire spread, down slope, into the community. As expected, without more moisture, the slope and southern aspect did dry out the brush and it became receptive to burning. The fire lines have held with aggressive holding of the line by ground personnel and water drops by the Park helicopter. Smoke has been visible throughout the area, but is mixing well within atmosphere. Most of the smoke is from the north side of Turner Ridge.
Adequate resources are on scene and will be throughout the holidays.

Devil Fire – This fire, in Mariposa County, is being monitored. It has shown no fire activity.

Closures: Two trails remain closed in the Jack fire area. They are from the Wawona Ranger Station to the junction with the Alder Creek Trail and the Mosquito Creek Junction, approximately 5 miles north to the Alder Creek Falls. All trails are open in the Devil fire area.

Weather: The predicted weather through the weekend indicates a dry cold front that will bring N/NE winds to the fire area. The Arctic/Canadian cold front will bring temperatures down into the low 30s andhighs to the mid 50's. The predicted east winds do not appear to be materializing. Little or no precipitation is forecasted.

Air Quality: Generally, air quality has been in the good category. In the mornings the fire area hasexperienced down canyon drift smoke, but has been lifting by 10 AM. The South Fork of the Merced Riverdrainage is most affected. For more information visit the Interagency Real Time Smoke Monitoring website at http://www.satguard.com/usfs/fleet.aspx.
Please call (209) 375-9572, for additional fire information. For photos and maps visit http://inciweb.org.

Additional Information: The park website, www.nps.gov/yose/fire has information about fire activity and smoke effects in Yosemite.

Source: Yosemite National Park Fire Education Office
P.O. Box 577
Yosemite, CA 95389
209/372-0480 phone or
209/372-0491 phone
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior