Popular campground closes as Garnet Fire reaches about 40% size of city of Fresno

A popular recreational campground area was forced to close as a wildfire in eastern Fresno County continued to grow, reaching more than 30,000 acres.

And there’s a possibility that the Garnet Fire could rapidly grow with the anticipation of isolated thunderstorms and the accompanying erratic, downdraft winds, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The Garnet Fire as of Thursday morning had spread to 30,714 acres, about 42% the size of the city of Fresno. Containment remained at 12% for the second straight day.

Dinkey Creek Campground — known for its recreational areas that includes fishing, hiking, swimming and picnic areas — was closed to the public and accessible only to firefighters and emergency personnel.

“As the fire spreads to the north, driving times to the line are becoming excessive, and the use of the Dinkey Creek Campground will allow firefighters to spend less time on roadways and more time on the fireline,” the USFS said. “Crews are working to keep the fire footprint as small as possible and to lessen the duration of the incident as much as they can.”

The Garnet Fire was sparked by lightning on Aug. 24 and has burned for 11 days and counting within the Sierra National Forest.

Nearly 2,000 firefighters have been assigned to combat the incident, including roughly 500 additional personnel recently to help man dozers, engines and various crews.

There have been no reported injuries or structures damaged, according to the most recent incident report listed by Cal Fire.

Crews were working along the north and eastern sides of the wildfire.

Along the McKinley Grove Road, crews continued to carefully remove vegetation, creating a shaded fuel break along the roadway.

The fire continues to back off the Patterson Bluff area west into the Dinkey Creek drainage, and firefighters there continued to work on containment lines and suppress any threats to those lines.

The roughly 5,000 acres of growth from Tuesday to Wednesday was anticipated due to Tuesday’s strong outflow winds, the forest service said. Fire growth from Wednesday to Thursday was roughly 1,000 acres.

Containment lines established in previous days helped reduce the fire’s spread.

Near Balch Camp, the fire continued to back down the ridge toward the camp, where firefighters and use of aircraft helped cool the edge to ensure it didn’t cross the fireline.

To the southern edge of the fire, the Garnet Fire bumped McKinley Grove Road, about three miles east of the grove itself, where the high voltage lines meet the road.

Heavy preparation by the crews helped hold the line on the road.

Firefighters will continue to put fire down along the road west toward Buck Camp and east toward Tule Meadow to remove vegetation that could threaten containment, as conditions permit. In the grove itself, firefighters have removed the duff layer from around the giant sequoias and placed sprinklers in key areas to help minimize damage should fire enter the area.

The USFS also said the Garnet Fire has progressed through the Teakettle Experimental Area and Sawmill Flat, and is holding approximately two miles from the Wishon Reservoir.

The forest service said structures within the area were prepared for protection through pre-treatment with retardant and/or flame-proof wrap, and there has been no report of structure loss.

This story was originally published September 3, 2025 at 12:26 PM.