Yosemite's Dome Fire reaches 4,809 acres and 30% containment. Glacier Point Road is closed, but the park is otherwise open and operating.

Here's where things stood in Yosemite National Park on the morning of Sept. 27, per the National Park Service. The Dome Fire had burned 4,809 acres and was 30% contained, with 781 personnel assigned, after growing 311 acres in a day. It is moving slowly north and northeast into the footprint of the 2017 Empire Fire, where rocky terrain and natural barriers are helping slow its spread. Crews are building and widening fire lines near Bridalveil Creek, Empire Meadows and Horse Ridge. In Wawona and Yosemite West, they're clearing brush around homes, checking hydrant pressure and keeping roads open. No roads, buildings or utilities are under immediate threat, the Park Service says. The park is open and operating normally, with exceptions. Glacier Point Road is closed because of reduced visibility from smoke and to allow firefighting operations, though the Four Mile Trail and Panorama Trail to Glacier Point remain open to hikers. The Chilnualna Falls trail, Ostrander Trail and the areas south of it are closed, and so is the Mariposa-Yosemite Airport to general aviation. Cool temperatures and elevated humidity are giving firefighters better conditions, but higher winds can result in longer-range spotting, when wind-carried embers start new fires ahead of the main one. Smoke is the other story. The park expected good air quality for Wawona, El Portal, Hodgdon Meadow and Mariposa, moderate air in Yosemite Valley, and air unhealthy for sensitive groups at Tuolumne Meadows as southwest winds pushed smoke there. Let's call the science straight: humidity is the firefighter's friend, and wind is the fire's. Preparation checklist for a fall visit: check the park's fire updates and closures the morning you go, look up conditions at fire.airnow.gov, and if anyone in your group is sensitive to smoke, plan your day around it instead of through it. Smoke doesn't read the trail map.