Dome Fire is still a stubborn blaze

Officials battling the stubborn Dome Fire in Yosemite National Park are unsure how long the base camp will be at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds.

“There really isn’t any update,” said Elissa La Comb, a public information officer for California Interagency Incident Management Team 4, the group in charge of the fire, when asked about how long it might take.

The use of the fairgrounds has caused some major local events to be canceled.

She was also unsure when the popular Glacier Point Road in Yosemite might reopen, only saying “as soon as possible.”

As of Monday of this week, the Dome Fire, which started on Sept. 15, had scorched 6,760 acres and containment was listed at 40 percent, which it has been for a while.

The biggest issue for firefighters is the remote and rugged country in which the fire is burning.

“There are dry conditions,” said La Comb. “And this is a fuels-driven fire.”

She said even though the fire has entered some areas of previous fires, those areas have “a lot of fuel.”

As of Monday, there were a whopping 1,063 personnel fighting the Dome Fire, up around 200 people from a week ago. Late last week, there was a change of personnel, which is standard procedure.

La Comb said some of the personnel who were already here have stayed and new people have been brought in to relieve others, meaning the numbers are climbing. Those numbers change regularly, she said.

The fire has stayed inside the existing footprint along the southern and western areas of the blaze. That is the area around Fish Camp, which has a lot of homes, vacation rentals, hotels and more infrastructure. That was the main focus of fire crews when the blaze ignited.

“We are working diligently,” said La Comb, who works for the United States Forest Service as a member of Team 4.

The efforts in the past couple of weeks have been focused on the eastern flank of the fire. That’s the area near Glacier Point and the Badger Ski area. She said there was no threat to those areas as of Monday and felt confident the firefighting efforts are working in that aspect.

To keep it that way, there are many hand crews who are working in the remote, rugged country, where pack mules are being utilized to bring in supplies.

La Comb said that has been a major asset for the team. What it means is those firefighters can remain deployed in the remote areas instead of having to come back out for supplies.

“It is working out wonderfully,” said La Comb. “Those areas are hard to reach.”

The goal, she said, is to keep the efforts as strong as possible.

“We want firefighters to fight the fire as much as they can,” she added.

Helicopters, too, continue to be utilized to drop water where it is feasible, she said.

Last week, a “slop over” crossed the Ostrander Trail and helicopters have been utilized to fight that part of the fire. There were also reports of spot fires in various locations in the park, but those have been handled.

The good news is no structures or even infrastructure is threated at this point. There are no power lines in the remote country, only trails. Last week officials said some of the design of fighting the fire is to let some areas burn while containment lines are being built along the perimeter. That work continues .

They are also making sure the fire continues to burn to the north, which it has for several weeks.

Another big advantage for firefighters is they are able to have a staging area at the Badger Pass Ski Area. That saves a lot of time when it comes to deployment. Combined with being able to supply firefighters with the use of pack mules, La Comb said it is helping them work as quickly as possible.

But how long it might take to get 100 percent containment on such a large fire remains unknown, she said.

She did say one thing they have going in their favor is the fact there are not a lot of large fires burning in California right now. There are some in other states, but she said it has allowed a lot of personnel to be assigned to the Dome Fire.

“If it would have been earlier in the year, it wouldn’t be this way,” she said. “We’re lucky to have that many people.”

Another factor in this fire is the fact the weather has been unseasonably warm and dry, conditions that are expected for the rest of this week but are forecast to ease this weekend and into next week. Having cooler temperatures and higher humidity aids in fighting fires.

Smoke from the fire has been varied around the area. Yosemite Valley has had times of a lot of smoke while at other times, the conditions are clear. The same has been true in Oakhurst, Mariposa and many other locations. In general, the smoke seems to settle into the valleys in the evening hours and then lifts during the day.

Yosemite National Park remains open as normal with the exception of Glacier Point Road and some trail closures in that area. La Comb said there are many factors as to why they closed the road, the biggest being the safety of the public and firefighters.

That road is narrow and has windy in some areas with little room for pullouts.