On the afternoon of October 7, 2014 a wildfire began at Dog Rock on the El Portal Road between the Yosemite National Park boundary and the Arch Rock Entrance Station. The Dog Rock Fire was first reported around 2:45, and swelled to approximately 130 acres. Fire crews and aircraft were dispatched to the scene and responded to the fire.
The FAA reported on October 8 that a CAL FIRE airtanker, Tanker 81, impacted rugged terrain after a wing tip strike on a tree while performing fire fighting duties.
CAL FIRE Chief Ken Pimlott and Yosemite Deputy Chief Deron Mills announced on the same day that the body of pilot Geoffrey “Craig” Hunt of San Jose – a DynCorp contractor who had been working for the state firefighting agency CAL FIRE for 13 years – had been located, and that the remains were escorted down the mountain by the firefighters who stayed with them at the crash site through the night.
Press release from the U.S.D.A.:
A deer hunter — not pot growers, as some politicians with an agenda publicly stated — started the Rim Fire that burned through over 237,341 acres of land in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park before firefighters finally got the upper hand. The 402 square mile fire blazed through more than $127 million of taxpayer money just fighting it. It began in the steep hills of the remote Jawbone Ridge area to the east of Groveland on August 17, 2013 and quickly spread out of control. Losses are estimated to be in excess of $50 million.
Press release from the USDA: