Updated: 4:06 p.m. Sep. 16
First discovered: More than ten years ago, 5:06 p.m. Aug. 23
Initial location: Sierra National Forest, Fresno County, CA, Calif.
Fire unit: Sierra National Forest
Fire type: Wildfire
Fire name: Garnet Fire
Garnet Fire initially started 5:06 p.m. Aug. 23 in Fresno County, California.
Since its discovery more than ten years ago, it has burned 59,844 acres. By Tuesday afternoon, a crew of 2,076 firefighters succeeded in containing 85% of the fire. The fire is assumed to have been sparked by lightning.
Fuels involved in this wildfire, according to InciWeb: “Timber (Litter and Understory), Timber (Grass and Understory), and Chaparral (6 feet) Primary fuels consist of dense, matted grasses at lower elevations, transitioning into heavy concentrations of snags and downed material from previous fire activity. The fire is now established in timber with extensive tree mortality along the North Fork of the Kings River, within an area lacking a recorded fire history. These fuel conditions present high resistance to control and significantly increase operational hazards to personnel.”
Historic data
In 2024, NIFC records reveal that lightning strikes caused 305 fires in California, resulting in 90,206 acres of wildland burned.
Incident description
Lightning Fire.
More reports from InciWeb:
• Incident overview:
“UPDATES: Evening Update | Actualización Diaria Incendio Garnet | Operational Update Video MAPS: Public Information Map | Progression MapAIR QUALITY: AirNow.govANNOUNCEMENTS: Virtual Community Meeting Special Announcement: Garnet Fire officials will hold an in-person community meeting on Wednesday, September 17, at 5:30 PM at the Shaver Lake Community Center, located at 41344 CA-168, Shaver Lake, CA 93664. The purpose of the meeting is to provide an update on the current fire situation, suppression repair activities, and to address any public questions. The meeting will also be broadcast on Sierra National Forest Incident Management YouTube @SierraNF-Incidents and Sierra National Forest Facebook. Please send any questions you would like discussed at the meeting to 2025.garnet.ca@firenet.gov ahead of time. Note: This will be the last evening incident update. Beginning tomorrow, we will transition to one incident update in the morning. Current Situation: Chad Costa, Operations Section Chief for the Garnet Fire, reported today that some interior patches of vegetation within the fire’s perimeter are still burning. Warmer temperatures and lower humidity have led to increased activity, enabling crews and patrols to identify and extinguish any remaining hot spots. Resource Advisors were working today with crews to mitigate fire suppression activities. This work is essential for stabilizing the soil, protecting water quality, and preserving both cultural and natural resources. Specialized equipment has been brought in to complete the critical task of restoring disturbed areas of the forest. Assessments were also ongoing in McKinley Grove, and the Resource Advisor reported that no Giant Sequoias have been destroyed to date. Weather: The warming trend will continue through Wednesday with increased temperatures and lower humidity. The extended forecast calls for increasing clouds and a chance of showers overnight on Thursday. Air Quality: Smoke from the Garnet Fire continues to affect areas in the direct vicinity of the fire. Smoke will continue to settle in drainages near the fire during evening and early morning hours. You can check your local air quality at: airnow.gov/. Evacuations and Road Closures – Eight Zones Return to Normal Status Tuesday afternoon, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and fire officials working the Garnet Fire elected to remove evacuation warnings previously placed on Zones K26, K28, K32A, K40, K60, K61A, K165 and K166. Additionally, Zones K29A, K30B and K31, which were under evacuation orders, were reduced to evacuation warnings. These zones encompass the western, eastern and southern edges of the fire. Zones K27, K29B and K30A remain under an evacuation order. Zones K29A, K30B and K31 are currently under an evacuation warning. Full updates on the fire and evacuation maps are available from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. The evacuation map is an interactive tool that allows residents to search by their physical address, general location, or evacuation zone. Forest Closure – No Changes The Sierra National Forest updated the Forest Closure in response to the full suppression effort on the Garnet Fire. The partial closure order was coordinated with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, along with multiple local, state, and federal agency cooperators, to identify the minimum area necessary for the safety of firefighting resources and forest visitors. For a copy of the closure and map, please visit the Sierra National Forest website at: Sierra National Forest | Garnet Fire Closure Order | Forest Service.”
• Projected incident activity:
“12 hours: Overnight fire behavior will be reduced to backing and smoldering. Now that control lines are completed, new spot fires outside the lines pose the main risk of fire spread, especially from isolated tree torching. Decreased humidity recovery overnight will maintain some receptiveness of fine fuels to new spot fires. 24 hours: Interior fire activity will continue to be elevated from lower humidity levels, which may allow active consumption of heavy fuels within the perimeter. Humidity recovery overnight is expected to reduce fire behavior to backing and smoldering. With the completion of control lines, risk of fire spread will be from new spot fires occurring outside the lines. The primary risk of spotting will come from any isolated tree torching within control lines. Spotting potential will remain elevated with the warmer and drier weather. 48 hours: Interior fire activity will continue as the heavy dead and down component continues to consume, primarily in the form of smoldering. The cooling trend will reduce intensity. With the completion of control lines, risk of fire spread will be from new spot fires occurring outside the lines. The primary risk of spotting will come from any isolated tree torching within control lines. Spotting potential and receptiveness of fuels outside the lines will begin a downward trend. 72 hours: Interior fire behavior will continue to exhibit periods of increased activity during daytime hours. Smoldering will continue. Isolated interior torching of snags remains possible. Spot fires remain the primary threat to completed control lines. The cooling weather trend will begin to reduce fire danger indices (ERC, BI, PIG), reducing the availability of fuels and spot fire potential for spot fires. Overnight recovery will continue to have fire behavior exhibit smoldering outside of thermal belts, wherein interior fire behavior could remain active overnight.”
• Planned actions on this wildfire:
“Current and Planned: In DIV M, crews will continue to hold around the completed firing operation and mop-up along containment lines. UAS will monitor uncontained, terrain-limited segments to detect residual heat and confirm cold black. Mop-up and patrol will continue across all divisions. In parallel, backhaul of equipment will ramp up, and suppression repair has begun on the southern, eastern and western, flanks and within the northern contingency areas.”
• Weather concerns:
“SYNOPSIS: Warm and dry across the fire today. Above normal temperatures and low relative humidity values continue through Wednesday. Better moisture late week with rain chances increasing Thursday night. OBSERVED: Smoke persisted until the inversion lifted late this morning, followed by mostly sunny skies. Temperatures were a few degrees warmer than yesterday, with highs ranging from the low 80s to mid/upper 90s in lower elevations and upper 60s to low 70s in higher terrain. Afternoon relative humidity ranged from low/mid 20%. Diurnal wind patterns prevailed, with westerly/upcanyon winds gusting up to 17 MPH observed in the afternoon. FORECAST: Wednesday features a repeat of the hot and dry weather observed on Tuesday, though cirrus will build beginning in the mid to late afternoon. Better moisture filters in at the mid levels on Thursday as remnants of a tropical system move into the region. Rain chances increase Thursday into Friday morning, followed by a 25% chance of thunderstorms Friday afternoon.”
• Significant events:
“Minimal, Smoldering, Creeping, & Isolated Torching Today’s fire activity was confined within the perimeter as previous burn operations deepened into the interior. The fire continues to smolder, aided by warmer weather, with heavy fuels burning and occasional isolated torching where snags are present. Elevated risk of spot fires remains due to ember cast and rollout, while topography is still the main factor influencing any fire spread. Overnight, the fire exhibited minimal fire behavior that primarily consisted of smoldering. The thermal belt presence enhanced this at certain elevations.”
Please note that these reports are automatically published and unreviewed quotes from InciWeb. Therefore they might be incomplete, hard to read or include misspelled words.
Fire containment
This is what 85% containment means
The percentage indicates how much of the fire perimeter has been surrounded by a control line. In this case, it means that 85% of the wildfire is halted from spreading, while 15% is still uncontrolled.
Containment is part of a larger plan for managing a wildfire. It is normally expressed as a percentage and it refers to how much of the fire perimeter has been surrounded/enclosed by a control line that firefighters create. The containment percentage indicates a certain level of control, but it doesn’t always correlate to safety level. Also, it’s important to note that containment doesn’t mean a fire is out.
How is containment measured?
The incident’s central command constantly receives progress reports from firefighters on the ground. As the fireline is constructed, inspected or reinforced, mappers record those details to adjust the containment percentage. The percentage tells the public how much of the fire perimeter is believed to not go beyond the control lines.
Source: InciWeb