By: Deb Schweizer, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
September 4, 2010 - Two fires, the Sheep Fire and the Marvin Fire, are being managed by Sequoia National Forest and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks staff. The Sheep Fire has grown to 3,000 acres, (295 acres on the Sequoia National Forest, and 2,705 in Kings Canyon National Park.)
The Forest Service has issued a temporary area closure on the Hume Lake Ranger District between Horse Corral Meadow and the Kings River and from Horse Corral Meadow east to the boundary with Kings Canyon National Park. Forest Road 14S11, Big Meadows Road, is closed at Horse Corral Meadow. Forest Trail 30E04 is closed from the Deer Meadow Giant Sequoia Grove to the boundary with Kings Canyon National Park. This closure area lies within a remote section of the Hume Lake Ranger District and the Monarch Wilderness.
Access to the Jennie Lakes Wilderness is still open from all major trailheads on the Forest, including Marvin Pass and Rowell Meadow Trailheads. “Due to the increase in fire activity we needed to close this area for public safety,” stated District Ranger John Exline. “We will be monitoring the fire situation over the next several weeks and will reopen all or portions of this closure area when safe to do so.”
Fire growth is still predominately to the south and west. Recent wildland fires and prescribed fires to the east have slowed fire spread in that direction. The fire is visible in Cedar Grove and other locations in the Kings Canyon. However, there are currently no threats to life or property.
Managed lightning fires limit the size and severity of subsequent fires by reducing the amount of dead, woody debris on the forest floor. Fire opens the canopy, allowing sunlight through. This encourages the sprouting and re-growth of plants, shrubs and trees.
Visitors to Hume Lake and the Cedar Grove area may experience smoke settling into the valley in the late evening and early morning hours. This is based upon inversion patterns that hold the smoke in the valley. As the day warms and the inversion breaks, smoke should lift out of the valley. The Don Cecil Trail in Kings Canyon National Park (from the trailhead at Cedar Grove to the park boundary) is closed for public safety.
All of these closures are in effect until further notice.
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