Yosemite Washburn fire 97% contained

YOSEMITE–The Washburn Fire, which is burning in Yosemite National Park, began the first week of July 2022 and is now entering its 4th week of burning. It is almost completely contained and should not spread much further. The fire has burned 4,886 acres and is 97% contained. Visitors and residents have returned to the community of Wawona, and access to Yosemite through the south entrance on Wawona Road (continuation of Highway 41) has been restored.

Wawona Town, Wawona Hotel and surrounding trails are open. Mariposa Grove of the Giant Sequoias (and trails leading to it), as well as Wawona Campground, remain closed until further notice. At the moment, there is no scheduled opening date. All other areas of Yosemite are open, although a reservation is required to enter the park if arriving between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Public information about the Washburn fire 31.07.2022

Visitors can expect to see areas where The Washburn Fire burned near the road and in other areas. They can also expect minimal smoke impacts from the Wash Burn Fire and the Oak Fire in Mariposa County. The worst air quality is expected to be in the afternoon when the winds change due to the terrain. Sensitive individuals should be aware of and limit prolonged or strenuous exercise, including hiking.

Washburn and Oak Fires daily air quality index (AQI) forecast for Saturday, 30.07.2022

IQA card key

And after?

There are three phases of recovery from wildfires on federal lands:

  • Fire extinguisher repair
  • Emergency Stabilization-Emergency response in burnt area (BAER)
  • Long-term recovery and restoration

Soil Burn Severity

Specialists from the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Interagency Team have completed field data collection on National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service – Sierra National Forest lands burned by the Washburn Fire on July 24, 2022 The post-fire Soil Burn Severity (SBS) map analyzes 4,835 acres of the South Fork Merced River watershed. The map and data display soil burn severity (SBS) categories of unburned/very low, low, moderate, and high.
About 47% of the total area is either unburned/very low or low SBS, while 48% is moderate SBS and only 5% is high SBS.

Team 15, a Complexity Type 2 Incident Management Team (CAIIMT15) handled the fire and have now transferred the Washburn Fire to a local Type 3 Incident Management Team, July 30, 2022 at 7 p.m.

CAIIMT15 would like to thank the local communities and cooperators for all the support and cooperation with their team.

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