Pictures: Battling the Yosemite Rim Fire

Hot Hike
Photograph by Max Whittaker, Reuters
Los Angeles County firefighters hike on a fire line near Groveland, California, as smoke rises from the massive Rim Fire burning near Yosemite National Park.
Now into its tenth day, the Rim Fire threatens 4,500 homes outside of Yosemite National Park. Fire crews have contained about 20 percent of the wildfire, which has burned some 160,000 acres—an area about the size of Chicago.
"There have been bigger portions of Yosemite burned in other fires, but there's never been a fire as big as this one in Yosemite if you take the [Rim Fire] as a whole," explained Tom Medema, a spokesman with Yosemite National Park.
To battle the massive blaze, 62 fire crews, consisting of more than 3,600 firefighters, have been called to the scene, Medema said in an interview on Monday.
The firefighters are assisted by 16 helicopters, 454 fire engines, 39 water tenders—wheeled water tankers—and a handful of other aircraft, Medema added.
—Ker Than
Published August 27, 2013
Fiery Forest
Photograph by Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
Burning trees glow bright orange while being consumed by flames from the Rim Fire now burning in California in a photo taken on August 25.
For now, the fire is confined to Yosemite National Park's more remote northwestern section, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from popular tourist site Yosemite Valley, where iconic attractions such as Half Dome and Yosemite Falls are located.
"Most of Yosemite National Park is not affected by the fire and is relatively smoke-free," a statement on the park's website reads. "The northern part of the park, including some areas along the Tioga Road, has some smoke. Conditions may change if winds shift."
Medema said other wildfires have burned closer to Yosemite Valley in the past, such as the Meadow Fire of 2009 and the A-Rock Fire of 1990.
Published August 27, 2013
Wildlife on the Move
Photograph by Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
A coyote walks across U.S. Highway 120, a primary entryway into Yosemite National Park that has been shut down as a result of the Rim Fire.
Located in the central Sierra Nevada of California, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) east of San Francisco, Yosemite is renowned for its natural beauty, with soaring granite pinnacles and towering waterfalls, its wildlife species, and its hundreds of miles of hiking trails.
Published August 27, 2013
Standing Watch
Photograph by Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
A firefighter with the West Stanislaus County Fire Department monitors the Rim Fire along Highway 120 near Groveland, California, in this photo taken on August 24.
So far, the Rim Fire is the 11th largest wildfire in recent California history. The fire is so big that it's creating its own weather patterns.
"As a fire gets big and starts consuming more and more vegetation, all that heat that's been generated and all that electricity that's been generated goes up into a smoke column and it will almost create its own thunderhead," Julie Hutchinson, battalion chief and information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told Mother Jones.
Published August 27, 2013
Setting Backfire
Photograph by Al Golub, Zuma Press
A firefighter creates a controlled backfire to prevent flames from the Rim Fire from escaping the Tuolumne River Canyon on Highway 120 near Yosemite National Park.
Despite the massive wildfire burning just a few miles away, park officials say visitors planning a trip to Yosemite shouldn't cancel their plans.
"They may have to modify them, if they were planning to go to Hetch Hetchy (reservoir) or if they were planning to take Highway 120,'' Yosemite park ranger and spokesperson Kari Cobb told USA Today.
Published August 27, 2013
Fire in the Sky
Photograph by Noah Berger, European Pressphoto Agency
An emergency vehicle drives along Highway 120 outside of Yosemite National Park in this photograph taken on August 24.
At least 23 structures have been destroyed and 4,500 are threatened, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Published August 27, 2013
Hotshots
Photograph by Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
A member of the Kern County (California) Rio Bravo Hotshots monitors the Rim Fire on August 24.
Hotshots are elite firefighters who have been specifically trained to respond to fires in remote regions with little or no logistical support.
Earlier this summer, 19 hotshots lost their lives battling the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona.
Published August 27, 2013
Ash and Smoke
Photograph by Noah Berger, European Pressphoto Agency
The cause of the fire, which began on August 17, is still under investigation.
Published August 27, 2013
Fire and Water
Photograph by Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
Firefighters use a hose to douse flames from the Rim Fire on August 24.
Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for San Francisco because the wildfire had damaged electrical infrastructure serving the city and the county of San Francisco.
There is also concern that the fire could threaten San Francisco's water supply. Flames from the Rim Fire came within one mile (0.6 kilometers) of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, which supplies water to the city.
Published August 27, 2013
Survivor
Photograph by Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
A small sapling outside of Camp Mather near Groveland, California, has escaped the devastation wrought upon a nearby grove of trees by the Rim Fire.
The wildfire burned close enough to two groves of giant sequoia trees, the Tuolumne Grove and Merced Grove, to prompt park officials to set sprinklers around them.
Ecologist Stephen Sillett of Humboldt State University said he suspects the move might have more to do with public relations than with sound forest policy.
"The main thing they are doing with sprinklers is appeasing the public," Sillett told National Geographic, "who are worrying about how ugly the area will look when they visit later and that some trees are going to die."
Published August 27, 2013

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3 comments

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Mohammad Kabir

The nature have a three site, Good bad ugly. Before day good, today not good average, tomorrow bad, day after tomorrow may be ugly.

Mohammad Kabir

This is very sad news of nature world. Please try to understand nature will gone his own style. They are angry only men Animals, Just announcement coming soon recovery all.