Ferguson Fire Grows To 53,646 Acres

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This is Day 17 of the Ferguson Fire, more updates are here.

Mariposa County, CA — Expect to see more large smoke plumes coming from the Ferguson  Fire today as crews will continue to burn containment lines ahead of its spread.

Tactical firing is a way to burn away heavy fuels in an effort to slow the fire’s spread. It has resulted in heavy smoke over the past few days. Last night the fire grew 1,975 acres as tactical firing took place between Highway 41 and Henness Ridge, and further south from Footman Ridge to Roundtree Saddle. More burning will take place in those areas throughout today. The air quality is expected to be very poor throughout the late morning and early afternoon in the region.

The fire is currently 53,646 acres and 30-percent contained.

Areas of Yosemite National Park that are currently closed (Yosemite Valley, Wawona and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias) will re-open on August 3.

The Ferguson Fire is one of 17 large active fires currently burning in California. 12,000 firefighters are assigned to incidents in the state and the fire’s have burned a combined 200,000 acres. The largest fire remains the Carr Fire near Redding that has burned over 89,000 acres and is only 5-percent contained.