A helicopter dropping fire retardant on September 7
The fire began as a result of a lightning strike on the morning of August 3,[1] and had little growth until a large tree fell, igniting the fire further.[2] By August 14 the fire had reached 50 acres (20 ha) in size.[3] The fire began to move into steep terrain the following day, and a fire command post was set up inThree Rivers as fire crews began to digfire lines.[4] On August 15, 70 personnel were assigned to the fire, including severalhelicopters.[2] On August 17 the fire had reached 228 acres (92 ha) in size,[5][6] and by August 19 it had rapidly grown to a size of 869 acres (352 ha) while 353 personnel worked to fight it.[7][8]
The smoke plume from the fire on September 11
On August 20 the southern portions of the fire had begun to push into the Surprise Grove area,[9][10] and on August 22 an evacuation warning was issued for areas directly west of theSequoia National Park.[11][12] The fire reached 2,683 acres (1,086 ha) in size the following day, and crews conducted aerial firefighting operations.[12] On August 24 the number of personnel assigned to the fire increased to 918,[13] and by August 28 the number had again increased to 1,312.[14] On August 29 the fire had grown to 5,683 acres (2,300 ha) in coverage,[15] and the fire began to push toward theKaweah River.[15] Containment on the fire reached 11% for the first time on August 31 as several fire lines were completed.[16][17][1]
On September 1, more evacuation warnings were issued encompassing the communities ofCabin Cove,Silver City andMineral King.[18] Containment on the fire reached 13% on September 2, and 1,369 crews worked to contain it.[19][20][21] By September 8, the fire had covered 13,347 acres (5,401 ha),[22][23] and on September 9fire retardant was dropped on the northeastern portions of the fire.[24] Containment was declared to be at 37% on September 10, and many evacuation warnings sent out due to the fire were lowered.[25] The fire reached 13,715 acres (5,550 ha) on September 11 and breached several control lines that were set up along theHorse Creek area.[26]
Containment on the fire reached 41% on September 12, and the fire itself had reached a size of 13,999 acres (5,665 ha) while a crew of 1,092 personnel worked to contain it.[27] On September 13, containment had been pushed up to 59% while crews retained fire lines.[28][29]
