National Forest staff monitor Sheep, Marvin fires
Two fires, the Sheep Fire and the Marvin Fire, continue to be managed by Sequoia National Forest and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks staff. They were started by lightning on or around July 16.
Officials report, the Sheep Fire has grown to 3,915 acres; 2,927 acres are in Kings Canyon National Park, 988 acres are in Sequoia National Forest.
The Sheep Fire is growing predominately to the west. It reached the Valley floor west of Cedar Grove on Saturday night. Warmer temperatures and lower relative humidities in the past week have increased fire activity creating longer burning periods. However, the fire is still considered a low-intensity fire that is not threatening to life or property.
The Marvin Fire on the Sequoia National Forest is 15 acres. The low-intensity fire is burning in a southeast direction at a high elevation in rocky terrain near Marvin Pass in the Jennie Lakes Wilderness.
The Swale Fire, located near Grant Grove, is a human-caused fire. It is one-quarter of an acre and has been suppressed by the Arrowhead Hotshots.
Visitors to Cedar Grove, Hume Lake, and locations within the Kings Canyon in the park and the forest may experience smoke in the late evening and early morning hours, officials report. This is based upon inversion patterns that hold smoke in the Valley. As the day warms and the inversion breaks, the smoke may lift. The Don Cecil Trail in Kings Canyon National Park (from the trailhead at Cedar Grove to the park boundary) is closed for public safety until further notice.
The U.S. Forest Service has issued a temporary area closure for the Sheep Fire on the Hume Lake Ranger District between Horse Corral Meadow and the Kings River and from Horse Corral Meadow east to the boundary with Kings Canyon National Park. This closure includes the Conoyer Trail.
