🔥 CAYNP Dome Fire
Description
Last updated: 2026-10-15 --- The type of incident is Wildfire and involves the following unit(s) Yosemite National Park. --- State: California --- Coordinates: Latitude: 37° 33 58 Longitude: 119° 36 82 --- NOTE: All fire perimeters and points are approximations. --- Incident Overview: Public Information Map (Pdf)      |     Morning Update (pdf)      |     Yosemite NP Air Quality    |    AirNow Smoke Monitoring     |     Operations Video Update     | The Dome Fire was reported on the morning of September 15, 2026. It is in the backcountry and located approximately 1/4 mile north of Chilnualna Falls and is visible from the Wawona Road (Highway 41).   Progress on the Dome Fire continues, with no change to the perimeter in several days. Containment has increased to 95%. Fire activity remains minimal, and any visible smoke is coming from interior pockets of heat.Firefighters on the east side will continue patrolling and mopping up today. Crews, mule trains, and helicopters will continue the task of removing hose and equipment from remote wilderness areas. Suppression repair work is underway to restore ground disturbed during firefighting operations, protecting sensitive natural and cultural resources and reducing the potential for erosion. Along secondary handlines, crews will pull berms back to match the natural terrain and scatter vegetation to help disguise the lines and limit water erosion.California Interagency Incident Management Team 4 is scheduled to transfer command of the fire back to Yosemite National Park on Thursday, October 15. Weather: A warming and drying trend is expected as high pressure builds across the area, with mostly light winds. Highs Tuesday will likely be in the 40s. Temperatures are forecast to climb into the 50s and approach the 60s Wednesday and Thursday.Temporary Trail Closure: Yosemite National Park is open and operating normally, with the following exceptions. Alder Creek Trail is open north to the Deer Camp Trailhead. Chilnualna Falls Trail is open from the trailhead east to Chilnualna Fall and Crescent Lake. All trails within the active fire footprint are currently closed, including all south and eastbound trails accessed from Glacier Point Road. Buena Vista Trail also remains closed at this time. The closed area can be seen on the public information map. The closure now also includes impacts to the Mono Meadow and Buena Vista Trails. View the full Closure Order, and Closure Order MapSmoke Impacts / Air Quality: No fire growth and low activity improved smoke impacts across Yosemite NP and surrounding communities early this week. The little smoke remaining on the Dome Fire is not expected to impact Yosemite NP through the weekend. Expect overall GOOD smoke impacts continuing across the remainder of this forecast area. Air quality in Yosemite NP remains impacted by elevated ozone levels from smog in the San Joaquin Valley. MODERATE to USG ozone levels are expected to continue in Yosemite NP in the afternoons.View current Air Quality Monitoring at https://fire.airnow.gov/#7/38.532/-119.416 Getting Supplies by Mule:  Several pack mules from the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, as well as from the Stanislaus National Forest t are being used to support firefighters on the Dome Fire. These intelligent, strong animals provide invaluable support. Using pack mules allows helicopters to do other work, such as bucket drops; and mules can also be used in smoky conditions where a helicopter would not have good visibility to deliver supplies to a remote site.  Read More!  Mule Video in Video GalleryManaging Fire Impacts in Federal Wilderness.    While it is widely understood that motorized equipment such as off-highway vehicles, dozers, or other mechanized equipment are not allowed in wilderness, this requirement is also largely true when fighting fires in wilderness.  Chainsaws, small portable water pumps and similar equipment is often allowed to operate during active fires, but large, ground disturbing equipment is still prohibited.  Firefighters use other methods, called Minimal Impact Suppression Tactics (MIST) when fighting fires in Wilderness areas.  Read more .Equipment Recovery and Backhaul:  While firefighters make the final push towards containment of the fire, they must fulfill another extremely important task.  Firefighters must be on the lookout for equipment in the field that is no longer needed by the crews that fought before them and recover and return items as activities continue to wind down.  The list of equipment that must be retrieved includes; hose, pump kits; generators; chainsaw kits; collapsible water tanks; and smaller items such as hose fittings and nozzles.  To gather these items, firefighters will GPS the location of equipment and then crews are sent out to backhaul these items.  Equipment must then be cleaned, repaired, and organized to be ready for the next incident.Drones and Aviation Safety:  A reminder: wildfires and drones don't mix.  Unauthorized drones can force firefighting aircraft to stop flying, delaying suppression efforts and allowing fires to grow. If you fly, we can't. Help protect firefighters, communities, and our nation's landscapes by keeping your drone away from wildfires.   Aviation resources "Own" the airspace around wildfires; the Temporary Flight Restriction for the Dome Fire is available at https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_4364  Know before you fly: https://knowbeforeyoufly.org/compliance.../avoid-wildfires/   Flight  Restriction Information https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/temporary_flight_restrictions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoG956VMCto  - Specific Message from FAA Regarding Drones and Wildfireshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qTrh7ZSY0 – NIFC Wildfire Drone Safety Videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v5f4tH_HF4 What is a TFR – from a private drone YouTube page – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMy7ZzkhUJU – Federal Charges Brought against drone operator in California Palisades FireManagement Objectives Prioritize firefighter's and the public's safety through risk analysis and hazard mitigation. Minimize burned acres utilizing direct extinguishment tactics. Utilize resources where they can be most successful and ensure tactics have a high probability of success. Protect and minimize impacts to local communities. wilderness values, and cultural/natural resources. Provide timely and accurate public information.Since 1916, the National Park Service has been entrusted with the care of our national parks. With the help of volunteers and partners, we safeguard these special places and share their stories with more than 318 million visitors every year. But our work doesn't stop there.We are proud that tribes, local governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individual citizens ask for our help in revitalizing their communities, preserving local history, celebrating local heritage, and creating close-to-home opportunities for kids and families to get outside, be active, and have fun. --- Source: InciWeb | http://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/caynp-dome-fire
Location
CA - Active Wildfire
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Details
Observed
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Auto-expires
October 30, 2026
Reported by
Trail Conditions Bot
Oct 16, 2026