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The Windy Fire, burning on the Tule River Indian Reservation and in Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sequoia National Forest has grown to 3924 acres with 0% containment. The Windy Fire experienced significant fire growth overnight and has burned towards the Western Divide Highway, M107 in the Nobe Young Meadow area. Firefighting resources are utilizing full suppression tactics.

On the ground, firefighters are constructing containment lines along the perimeter of the fire. Air operations are continuously monitoring fire conditions and weather, looking for opportunities to fly and support firefighters on the ground with water dropping capabilities.

Firefighters have established a fire perimeter line around the Crawford Fire. Fire crews are being inserted into this separate fire area today to strengthen the containment perimeter to contain it. Both fires were determined to be caused by lightning. There are 529 personnel currently assigned to the incident with more resources expected.

Smoke will continue to impact the region. Please visit airnow.gov for the most up to date air quality concerns.  An area of low pressure has brought a cooling trend over the fire area. Temperature will return to seasonal averages along with improving relative humidity recovery overnight. Diurnal slope driven winds could give way to gusty afternoon winds from the south/southwest.

The fire burned into a portion of the Peyrone Sequoia Grove while others are threatened. Due to inaccessible terrain, a preliminary assessment of the fire’s effects on giant sequoia trees within the grove will be difficult and may take days to complete.

Tule River Indian Reservation residents and those in and near the communities of Johnsondale, Camp Nelson and Ponderosa are asked to continue monitoring the progress of this fire. Tulare County residents can receive county emergency notifications by registering at AlertTC.com.

Forest Closure in Effect 

The USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region has announced a lift to closures of eighteen National Forests. This includes the Sequoia National Forest except for the newly released Windy Fire and other fire closed areas in the. Closure Order 0513-21-28 will be effective September 16 through December 31, 2021 unless conditions change.