By Brian Hews
The Rim Fire in the Yosemite Valley in California has now destroyed 133,980 acres as of Sunday afternoon, and fire officials say that the massive blaze is only 7 percent contained, and that more devastation continues to grow to monumental proportions.
Published on Aug 25, 2013 on You Tube from Logansden77. They wrote the following about the fire: “Short video of the start of the Rim fire, taken at about 3:30pm on August 17, 2013. View is from Rim of the World vista point. The fire was about 50 acres at the time. While taking the video, I never would have thought it would get as big as it is.”
The dramatic fire has also created a huge buzz on social media sites such as You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, and others.
On Sunday, Cal Fire officials told members of the media that “fire crews continue to work toward increasing containment of the Rim Fire.”
“A major effort focused is underway to hold the fire east of the North Fork of the Tuolumne River. Fire crews have strengthened fire lines that are holding above the community of Pine Mountain Lake. Additional efforts are focused on the eastern edge of the fire in Yosemite National Park to minimize impacts to our national treasure,” a statement confirmed.
Officials are claiming that they are directly attacking the fire by utilizing “many firefighters to gain safe access.”
Published on Aug 24, 2013; MAFFS 4 Rim Fire on 23Aug2013 at 16:15; 146AW Channel Islands Air National Guard; US Forest Service Cal FIRE Aerial Firefighting.
In other areas of the Rim Fire where extremely steep, rugged and inaccessible terrain exist, fire crews are using a tactic called indirect attack which creates control lines away from the fires active edge. Air resources, including several helicopters and air tankers, are being utilized to slow the forward progress of the fire.
Here is OFFICIAL INFORMATION about the blaze as of 1 p.m. Sunday.
| Incident Type | Wildfire |
|---|---|
| Cause | Under Investigation |
| Date of Origin | Saturday August 17th, 2013 approx. 03:15 PM |
| Location | Groveland Range District, Stanislaus NF |
| Incident Commander | Wilkins/lawshe |
| Total Personnel | 2,846 |
|---|---|
| Size | 133,980 acres |
| Percent Contained | 7% |
| Fuels Involved | Brush, Oaks, and Pine |
| Fire Behavior | Fire remained fairly active overnight in most all divisions. Increased activity developed on the eastern edge of the fire with very active burning inclusive of rapid rates of spread, torching and spotting. |
| Significant Events | A forest closure is in effect for locations near and in advance of the fire. Evacuation advisories are still in effect for Tuolumne City and nearby areas along the Highway 108 corridor. Structure defense, contingency planning, indirect line construction and indirect line preparation to the east of Highway 108 corridor. Access and difficult terrain remain concerns for crews and equipment. Significant progress made on along the western edge of the fire with mop-up progress. Good progress was made with constructing and securing lines along the southwestern, northwestern and northern portions of the fire. |
| Planned Actions | Continued line construction where accessibility and safety allows. |
|---|---|
| Growth Potential | Extreme |
| Terrain Difficulty | Extreme |
| Remarks | The Rim incident is expected to continue to exhibit very large fire growth due to extremely dry fuels and inaccessible terrain. Rapid fire growth and extreme fire behavior and hampering suppression efforts. Aerial resources are being effective with MAFFs and VLAT DC-10 air tankers prepping locations in advance of the fires spread toward the Highway 108 corridor and along the eastern perimeter of the fire. The forecasted high winds and high potential for long range spotting however remains a significant concern for fire to advance beyond the retardant lines and allow for fire spread into the communities of Tuolumne City, Twain Harte and Long Barn to the west of the fire and east into the Hetch Hetchy watershed. |
| Wind Conditions | 20 mph SW |
|---|---|
| Temperature | 58 degrees |
| Humidity | 58% |
California’s forests are worse managed than even the forests of the old Soviet Union. Look for our Senatorettes to fund helicopter removal of dead trees next.