Photos From the Massive Yosemite Wildfire

The blaze in and around California’s Yosemite National Park has more than quadrupled in the last two days. Here’s what it looks like.

Smokey the Bear in Buck Meadows, Ca, with the Rim Fire burning behind him and his sign. On August 20, the fire was 10,000 acres.Marty Bicek/ZUMA


Northern California’s ferocious Rim Fire exploded to more than 106,000 acres Friday. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, it is threatening roughly 4,500 structures, has entered Yosemite National Park, and is just 2 percent contained. These images will give you an idea of what it looks like:

Map of the fire from Friday, August 23. Updates can be found here. National Wildfire Coordinating Group
 

A DC 10 air tanker drops flame retardants just east of the town of Groveland. Hundreds of campers have been evacuated. Al Golub/ZUMA
 

A firefighting bulldozer from Barstow, California, behind San Jose Family Camp, near Yosemite National Park. Al Golub/ZUMA
 

A crew from the 146th Airlift Wing of the California Air National Guard flies over the Rim Fire on Thursday afternoon. The best shot of the fire comes around the six-minute mark.

 

On the first day of the Rim Fire, firefighters in an aircraft worked until sunset to attempt to keep the fire from reaching the Tuolumne River. When this photo was taken the fire was only 200 acres, but the next morning it had made it to the bottom of the Tuolumne River. Al Golub/ZUMA

 

Cal Fire firefighters created a backfire to stop fire coming out of the Tuolumne River Canyon on Highway 120 Near Yosemite National Park. The Rim Fire jumped this road in several places.Al Golub/ZUMA

 

Members of the Horseshoe Meadow Hotshots—Chuck Ervin, left, and Ian White—prepare a fire break at the Rim Fire in the Stanislaus National Forest in California. Andy Alfaro/Modesto Bee/ZUMA
 

The Rim Fire jumps Highway 120 near Cherry Lake Road and San Jose Family Camp near Yosemite National Park. Al Golub/ZUMA
 

Cal Fire firefighters take a break from creating a backfire on Highway 120 near Yosemite National Park. Al Golub/ZUMA
 

A US Forest Service crew hikes down Harden Flat Road to support structures during the fire. Al Golub/ZUMA

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate