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September 9, 2025 - Garnet Fire in California
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On August 24, 2025, lightning struck dry vegetation in California’s Sierra National Forest in Fresno Count and sparked a fire, which expanded rapidly. The primary fuel was dense, matted grass with large amounts of dead snags from previous fires. By September 7, the Garnet Fire reached an area of forest with extensive tree mortality along the North Fork of the Kings River, with no recorded fire history, according to a situation update published in InciWeb. These conditions present a situation that is highly resistant to control and presents serious hazards to personnel working the fire. The type of fuel that is burning, along with winds gusting up to 20 miles per hour, also creates heavy smoke.
Portions of the Sierra National Forest have been closed to the public due to the fire, which continues to expand. As of the morning of September 8, the Garnet Fire has burnt 49,109 acres. With 2,226 personnel deployed to the fire, it had reached 14 percent containment. Important objectives listed on InciWeb on September 8 include to provide point protection for Balch Camp PG&E hydro-electric and residential facilities, two powerhouses, Balch communication reflector, penstock and valve houses, and associated power distribution lines. And to protect PG&E’s critical infrastructure in the Wishon Reservoir area, including the Helms Powerhouse, intake and discharge structures, switchyard, and distribution lines, due to their importance to regional grid reliability.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of the Garnet Fire on September 7. Extremely heavy gray smoke pours from the fire and is blown to the northeast and over southwestern Nevada. The city of Fresno sits to the southwest of the fire and, at that time, the skies over the city were free of smoke.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 9/7/2025
Resolutions:
1km (267.3 KB), 500m (640.6 KB), 250m (431.5 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
On August 24, 2025, lightning struck dry vegetation in California’s Sierra National Forest in Fresno Count and sparked a fire, which expanded rapidly. The primary fuel was dense, matted grass with large amounts of dead snags from previous fires. By September 7, the Garnet Fire reached an area of forest with extensive tree mortality along the North Fork of the Kings River, with no recorded fire history, according to a situation update published in InciWeb. These conditions present a situation that is highly resistant to control and presents serious hazards to personnel working the fire. The type of fuel that is burning, along with winds gusting up to 20 miles per hour, also creates heavy smoke.
Portions of the Sierra National Forest have been closed to the public due to the fire, which continues to expand. As of the morning of September 8, the Garnet Fire has burnt 49,109 acres. With 2,226 personnel deployed to the fire, it had reached 14 percent containment. Important objectives listed on InciWeb on September 8 include to provide point protection for Balch Camp PG&E hydro-electric and residential facilities, two powerhouses, Balch communication reflector, penstock and valve houses, and associated power distribution lines. And to protect PG&E’s critical infrastructure in the Wishon Reservoir area, including the Helms Powerhouse, intake and discharge structures, switchyard, and distribution lines, due to their importance to regional grid reliability.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of the Garnet Fire on September 7. Extremely heavy gray smoke pours from the fire and is blown to the northeast and over southwestern Nevada. The city of Fresno sits to the southwest of the fire and, at that time, the skies over the city were free of smoke.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 9/7/2025
Resolutions:
1km (267.3 KB), 500m (640.6 KB), 250m (431.5 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
