wildfire

When the Rabbit Fire ignited in late September, firefighters took advantage of weather and forest conditions to allow the fire to burn in a controlled manner, rather than immediately extinguishing it.

In September 2020, soldiers with the California Army National Guard rescued hundreds of people who had been trapped near a Sierra Nevada lake by the Creek Fire. This past weekend, the helicopter crews who conducted those rescues were reunited with the survivors and honored during a Fresno State football game.

Moderate weather and well-timed rainstorms in much of California combined to curb the acreage and structures burned.

Two decades ago, the U.S. Forest Service warned that a wildfire mirroring the Caldor Fire’s progression could easily wipe Grizzly Flats off the map. The Forest Service took steps to prevent such a catastrophe, but an investigation from CapRadio and The California Newsroom found the plan fell short.

A wildfire that threatened Yosemite's Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias is burning eastward into the Sierra National Forest.

As the Washburn Fire grows near Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, around 1,600 people in the nearby community of Wawona have been ordered to evacuate, including high-schoolers at a summer camp

A fire official told a community meeting Monday night that the blaze has been on the outskirts of the famed Mariposa Grove and officials don't believe it will advance inward.

In late 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new program to dramatically speed up the state’s wildfire prevention work. But an investigation from CapRadio and The California Newsroom found the program hasn’t resulted in a single completed project.

On the part of the community of Rock Haven that received forest thinning treatments, the Creek Fire lost enough intensity to spare mature trees and historic homes.

This story was produced for WNYC Studios radio show Science Friday. You can find the original post and audio piece here.A Piece Of Paradise It was Labor…