The Railroad Fire was a wildfire that burned in between the communities of

Sugar Pine ''Pinus lambertiana'' (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree and has the longest Conifer cone, cones of any conifer. It is native to coastal and inland mountain areas along the Pacific coa ...

and Fish Camp in the

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

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. The fire was reported on August 29, 2017 and burned before it was fully contained on October 24. It occurred during the historic

2011–2017 California drought The 2011–2017 California drought persisted from December 2011 to March 2017 and consisted of the driest period in California's recorded history, late 2011 through 2014. The drought wiped out 102 million trees from 2011 to 2016, 62 million of tho ...

. The cause of the fire remains unknown. The fire threatened communities in the area, historic buildings in the

Nelder Grove Nelder Grove, located in the western Sierra Nevada within the Sierra National Forest in Madera County, California, is a Giant sequoia grove that was formerly known as Fresno Grove. The grove is a tract containing 60 mature Giant Sequoia (''Se ...

Historic Area, Tenaya Lodge, and Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad, which the fire was named after. It also impacted tourism and

air quality Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

in the forest and

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

. It killed 39 out of the remaining 104 giant sequoias in Nelder Grove.

Progression

The Railroad Fire was reported on August 29, 2017 in the area between the communities of

and Fish Camp the

. The cause is unknown. On September 3, mandatory evacuations were ordered for the Sky Ranch Road area, due to the fire spreading towards residential areas after a storm, including the Cedar Valley Subdivision. On

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

crews wrapped historic structures in the Nelder Grove Historic Area, including cabins dating back to the late 1800s, in protective, heat-shielding material. As of September 7,

Pacific Gas & Electric The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered at Kaiser Center, in Oakland, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in the norther ...

began working to re-establish electricity in the fire area and increased humidity overnight helped slow the fire. By September 10, the fire had burned and was 70% contained, with 1,035 personnel fighting the fire. Crews were pulled from the fire lines on the evening of September 11 due to thunderstorms that brought a quarter inch of rain into the area. On October 24, the wildfire was fully contained.

Effects

Impacts to giant sequoia

The fire burned through much of Nelder Grove killing 38 of the grove's 92 monarch trees and forcing the permanent closure of The Shadow of the Giants trail. 2017 09 10-17.28.15.034-CDT.jpg, Fire burning in Nelder Grove on September 10, 2017. 2017 09 07-09.59.28.283-CDT.jpg, Firefighters pose atop a giant sequoia stump. Nelder Grove after the Railroad Fire - May 2019.jpg, Portions of Nelder Grove became a snag forest after exposure to high intensity

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

Air quality

The air quality in the area declined rapidly due to the fire, which had been burning concurrently with two others in the region. Yosemite National Park reported that air quality was "unhealthy" in the park as of September 6. Additionally, the US Forest Service reported that air quality was "hazardous" in Wawona. That same day, Yosemite High School released students early from school due to poor air quality.

Gallery

2017 09 03-13.52.37.180-CDT.jpg, The first day of the fire as seen from nearby Oakhurst. 2017 09 07-10.10.48.497-CDT.jpg, Defensive burning above Cedar Valley. 2017 09 05-22.22.48.843-CDT.jpg, A DC-10 VLAT fights the fire from above. 2017 09 03-14.15.20.234-CDT.jpg, Historic structures are wrapped in

. 2017 08 29-19.47.11.690-CDT.jpg, Firefighters walk along Highway 41.

References

External links

* {{California wildfires by year 2017 California wildfires History of Mariposa County, California Wildfires in Mariposa County, California August 2017 in the United States September 2017 in the United States