FIRE IN YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
Patricia DutreyApril Stowell
FIRE IN YOSEMITE
75 Years of Fire Managementin
the National Park1930-2010
1871 Peshtigo, Wisconsin 2400 sq. miles 2000 lives lost 1894 Minnesota 100+ sq. miles 900 lives lost 1910 Idaho, Montana “Big Blowup” 3 million acres, 78 to 85 firefighters killed
1918 Minnesota
1500 sq. miles 450 lives lost
1915-”the Ten O’clock Rule"
10 O’clock Rule:By 10 am the morning after its discovery,
all fires will be extinguished.
The natural fire return interval in Yosemite is 15 years. By 1930 this interval had missed onecomplete cycle. The first large fire hits Yosemite in 1948.