Southern Yosemite Highway 41 closed

Wawona and Wawona Campground are being evacuated because of the fire near Mariposa Grove.
If you're heading to Yosemite this weekend, activate your Plan B.

That area was hit especially hard maybe three years ago, so this fire might run out of fuel. So far none of the Sequoia trees affected. But the footprint of smoke tends to be a lot bigger in area, and some of it will inevitably settle into Yos Valley as well as drift toward the high country. Sequoia Park has fared far worse after a survey of its big fire. They believe that 10% of the really big old trees (2000 to 3000 yrs old) were destroyed there.

FWIW I just heard that HWY 41 is closed to through traffic at the Bass Lake turn off at Oakhurst.
They named this one the Washburn Fire.
Evacuees from Wawona are being routed into Yosemite Valley

Bass Lake scares the heck out of me. They've cleared trees around dwellings; but since it narrowly evaded a couple of huge fires, it's still a very dangerous tinder box of dead pines all around ripe for an explosive fire. This Washburn Fire is still quite a ways from there, and this morning reported at 700 acres; but we'll see. It is right around the big trees. But they were prepared for something like this, so expect full containment.

Over 1600 acres burned so far. Quite a bit of dead pine in there constituting the fuel. It's all on the uphill side of the highway. It's mainly the lower side that burned last time, except toward Glacier Pt. Lots of smoke, which is indicative of burning chaparral too, with all its creosote. And those dead and dying pines are especially pitchy. I can almost smell it just thinking about it.

I sure am glad I don't fight fires anymore...
Can hardly believe I use to do it (but not much).

Fires at Mirror Lake and on Tioga Pass right now.
They think Tioga Pass was caused by lightening.

The Washburn fire is approaching the 2015 burn scar, which is a good thing.
Rangers set a back fire at the South Gate.

We got a reverse air flow around midnight, and I briefly smelled a little smoke. Onshore flow again soon after, so nice blue sky today. But less ocean ventilated cities like San Jose have gotten a bit more smoke.
And a noxious an urban fire broke out again in a homeless encampment just under the freeway in Oakland, and blew up some propane tanks and burned some abandoned stolen vehicles, which generated lots of black smoke there. I don't know why the fire departments don't preemptively deal with that recurrent risk. They have the authority to do so. And it turned this afternoon's freeway commute into a nightmare - freeway totally shut down. Glad I'm retired and can avoid it. One of the fires in the delta caused by fireworks on the 4th is still smoldering. It's turning out to be another long season. Hard to plan where to go camping.

My nephew sent a couple shots of the Merced River canyon where he goes fishing in the evening. Hazy, but nowhere near as bad as Yosemite Valley.

Smoke spreading far and wide from this next round of fire, the Oak Fire, which is much more aggressive than the Washburn fire, and slightly to the south of that. In fact, the southern end of it is on the ridge directly above my nephew's place. Smoke must be horrible there. But the smoke is also spreading two counties to the south, completely over the top of Yosemite NP into Mono Basin, as far north as Tahoe, and sending plumes almost to Utah right now. Hwy 41 into Yosemite Valley itself has reopened; but what ya gonna see with all the smoke ???? Hard to make mtn travel plans under such dicey circumstances. And more fires are likely to break out. But they're real bad in at least six countries around the Mediterranean Sea right now too. Similar climates, and likewise hit hard by drought and excessive heat.