Yosemite road closures in effect through Labor Day

[copeg]

From the LA Times

Outdoor enthusiasts planning to head to Yosemite National Park for the Labor Day holiday weekend should keep in mind that road closures due to the Big Meadow fire will be in effect until further notice.

Big Oak Flat Road remains closed to through traffic at the Big Oak Flat Entrance Station to the junction of El Portal Road. Tioga Road is also closed from White Wolf to the Crane Flat Gas Station.

All park campgrounds are open with the exception of Crane Flat and Tamarack Flat campgrounds, and the community of Foresta is still evacuated.

Those going to the Strawberry Music Festival taking place at Camp Mather near Yosemite may also be affected by these closures.

Many other areas of Yosemite are accessible and unaffected by the wildfire, which has been burning for over a week. As of this morning, the fire has consumed 7,240 acres and is now 70% contained.

For updated fire information, visit http://www.inciweb.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or call (209) 372-0327, (209) 372-0480, or (209) 372-0669 daily during business hours.

-- Kelly Burgess

[Bad Man From Bodie]

This fire is absolutely ridiculous. What brainniack of an FMO or whatever the park service calls their fire gurus decided to do a control burn in the worst part of the fire season (HOT AUGUST). It sure doesn’t take a PhD in fire science to know that this was a bad idea from the start. No wonder this thing got out of control. Aren’t control burns suppose to be conducted in early spring/late fall and even in winter months to avoid burning up the park in the hot, windy, dry, part of August?

I sure hope this person is canned for stupidity and think the park service should be sued for loss of public revenue generated as a result of poooor management (they can pay for it out of the parks BMP stimulus funding). Where do they find these people?