The Washburn Fire was a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

that burned in

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

near the

Mariposa Grove Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, California, United States, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. It is the largest grove of giant sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree. Two of i ...

giant sequoias ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by John Muir) is the sole living species in the genus ''Sequoiade ...

. The fire was reported on July 7, 2022, in the lower Mariposa Grove area near the Washburn trail, for which the fire is named. The fire quickly attracted national attention due in part to the role the Mariposa Grove played in the establishment of Yosemite National Park and the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

. The cause of the fire was referred to as a "human-start". The fire caused evacuations of Wawona and impacted tourism and air quality in the

Sierra National Forest Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of central Sierra Nevada in Central California and bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is kno ...

and surrounding communities. The fire was fully contained and was put out on August 1 and burned a total area of .

Events

The Washburn Fire was reported in the afternoon of July 7, 2022, near the Washburn Trail in the

area of

. Approximately 450 visitors were evacuated before helicopters and tanker airplanes were cleared to drop wildfire retardant in the area of the grove. On July 13, the fire expanded into the

, traveling up the

Merced River The Merced River (), in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a -long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and st ...

drainage and away from Mariposa Grove. On that day, the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

assistant press secretary stated that "We are closely monitoring the Yosemite wildfire, and the President has been briefed." By July 18, almost 1,600 firefighters were assigned to the fire with an estimated cost of fighting the fire up to that point estimated at $16.3 million.

Impacts

Closures

The Mariposa Grove and South Entrance to Yosemite National Park, along Highway 41, were closed. A mandatory evacuation order was given for the Wawona area, including the historic

Wawona Hotel The Wawona Hotel is a historic hotel located within southern Yosemite National Park, in California. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987, and is on the National Register of Historic Places . History The Wawona Hotel is one of the ...

. Wawona residents and property owners were allowed to return on Sunday, July 17 as the fire exceeded fifty percent containment and continued to burn mostly to the east of the community. The Mariposa Grove reopened to the public on August 3, 2022.

Environmental

The Washburn Fire threatened the giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove, which has some of the world's largest and most visited trees, including the

Grizzly Giant The Grizzly Giant is a Sequoiadendron giganteum, giant sequoia in Yosemite National Park's Mariposa Grove. It has been measured many times; in 1990 Wendell Flint calculated its volume at , making it the List of largest giant sequoias, 26th-largest ...

. On July 9, fire crews acted to protect the trees, spraying the trees with hoses. Aluminum foil wrapped around the trunks was also employed. Additional preventative measures were taken on July 11, including a

fire sprinkler system A fire sprinkler system is an active fire protection method, consisting of a water supply system, providing adequate pressure and flowrate to a water distribution piping system, onto which fire sprinklers are connected. Although historically on ...

to increase

relative humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

around the Grizzly Giant and the wrapping of the historic

Galen Clark Galen Clark (March 28, 1814 – March 24, 1910) was a Canadian-born American conservationist and writer. He is known as the first European American to discover the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees, and is notable for his role in gaining leg ...

cabin. Fire preparation measures, including fuel reduction over the past 50 years and the restoration of

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

during the Mariposa Grove Restoration Project, have been effective in preventing permanent damage to sequoias exposed to the fire, which include the Galen Clark Tree.

Fire growth and containment process

References