Qualla: Ferguson Fire https://qualla.com/ferguson-fire en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:11 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/y/ferguson-fire-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Ferguson Fire https://qualla.com/ferguson-fire Ferguson Fire: Introduction https://qualla.com/ferguson-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. On July 20, 2018, the Ferguson Fire jumped the Merced River. Until that moment, firefighters had hoped the river would serve as a natural barrier, holding the blaze to the south side of the canyon. Instead, burning embers sailed across the water and ignited spot fires near Miller Gulch and Ned Gulch in the Stanislaus National Forest, consuming an estimated 600 acres in hours. The fire had been burning for a week already, reported on July 13 in the Sierra National Forest, and it would not be declared inactive until September 19. In that span, it burned 96,901 acres across three national forests and Yosemite National Park, forced the unprecedented closure of Yosemite Valley, killed two firefighters, and cost more than $100 million to fight.

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/y/ferguson-fire-wp/9qdy-ferguson-fire-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Ferguson Fire: A Week of Losing Ground https://qualla.com/ferguson-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. The Ferguson Fire grew with a relentlessness that made each day's containment figures feel like fiction. On July 15, it covered 4,310 acres. By July 18, it had quadrupled to over 17,000. Electricity failed in portions of Yosemite National Park. The Red Cross opened a shelter at a...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/y/ferguson-fire-wp/9qdy-ferguson-fire-a-week-of-losing-ground.mp3 0:06 2 full Ferguson Fire: The Day Yosemite Closed https://qualla.com/ferguson-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. On July 24, the National Park Service announced that Yosemite Valley and Wawona would close by noon the following day. It was an extraordinary step. Yosemite Valley - the most visited seven square miles of wilderness in America - was being evacuated. Visitors and residents were o...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/y/ferguson-fire-wp/9qdy-ferguson-fire-the-day-yosemite-closed.mp3 0:06 3 full Ferguson Fire: Braden Varney and Brian Hughes https://qualla.com/ferguson-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. Braden Varney was a bulldozer operator with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. During operations on the Ferguson Fire, his vehicle rolled down a ravine, killing him. He was the fire's first fatality. On July 29, Brian Hughes, captain of the Arrowhead Inter...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/y/ferguson-fire-wp/9qdy-ferguson-fire-braden-varney-and-brian-hughes.mp3 0:06 4 full Ferguson Fire: Containment by Degrees https://qualla.com/ferguson-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. Firefighters do not extinguish a fire of this scale. They surround it. Containment lines were built from Jerseydale to Wawona Campground, from Five Corners to Pilot Peak, from Henness Ridge southeast to Highway 41. When the fire jumped a line near El Portal, crews used indirect m...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/y/ferguson-fire-wp/9qdy-ferguson-fire-containment-by-degrees.mp3 0:06 5 full Ferguson Fire: What Fire Leaves Behind https://qualla.com/ferguson-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. Yosemite Valley reopened on August 5, though Wawona Road and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias remained closed longer. The economic impact rippled outward from the park through gateway communities that depend on summer tourism for their survival. But the Ferguson Fire also for...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/y/ferguson-fire-wp/9qdy-ferguson-fire-what-fire-leaves-behind.mp3 0:06 6 full