Rim Fire Rain And Snow
Tuolumne County, CA — The rain and snow helped with fire suppression efforts, but it hindered it in some areas. The rain in some areas caused mud slides and the snow closed a section of Highway 120.
Incident Command Spokesperson Gary Wuchner says, “There was quite a bit of rain, up to six tenth of an inch in some areas and maybe more in some areas that we haven’t been able to measure. In some location where we were doing road repairs we had to pull crews away due to very slippery muddy roads, roll out of logs and not just rocks, but boulders.”
Here is the report released by Incident Command:
Special Road Updates:
Aspen Valley is open to residents only beginning today. Hwy 120 was closed last evening from Crane Flat to 12 miles west of the junction of U.S. 395/Tioga Pass due to snow. For your safety, visitors are not permitted to stop along the road adjacent to the fire perimeter.
Fire Update:
About 0.6 inches of rain fell on the fire yesterday causing some rock and debris falls, and muddy roads. Some erosion may have occurred on deeply burned, water repellent soils. Given the rain and higher humidity, fire behavior should be more limited to isolated smoldering today. Fire crews will continue work where they can safely access and where driving does not further damage roads. High temperatures today will be in the 60s F. Suppression repair continues and to-date includes 89 miles of dozer line, 9 miles of hand line, 62 miles of chipping along roads, and 21 miles of road repair. A total of 118 miles of suppression line repair remain.
Public Safety:
Anyone traveling on roads within the fire area should use extreme caution as fire personnel and equipment continue to work in the area. Hazards include rocks and debris in roads, smoke, weakened trees and snags (that may fall), and hot burning stump holes. If you must drive through the fire area please do not stop, leave the roadway, or enter the burned area on foot.
Park and Forest Closures:
The Big Oak Flat Road is open to Yosemite Valley. Local businesses are open and providing services (gasoline, food and lodging) for travelers. Evergreen Road is open only to Evergreen Lodge. Hetch Hetchy and surrounding facilities in Yosemite Park remains closed to public access due to hazardous trees. Tuolumne Grove and Hodgdon Meadow Campground remain closed due to the fire. Yosemite Creek and White Wolf Campgrounds, and White Wolf Lodge, are closed for the season. Merced Grove and Tamarack Flat reopened recently. The Stanislaus National Forest issued an updated Rim Fire Area Closure on September 12th for the Groveland and Mi-Wok Ranger Districts. The areas in the north section of the forest were opened to allow access to the Crabtree Road area. The rest of the fire area remains closed until December 31, 2013. Cherry Lake Road is closed at Hwy 120. Old Yosemite and Harden Flat Roads are closed. Some secondary roads within the fire area remain closed to non-residents.
