Sequoia wildfires continue to grow uncontained. New Incident Management Team called in

The KNP Complex Fire, burning in Sequoia National Park, continued with uncontained growth on Tuesday into Wednesday, prompting a mandatory evacuation order for parts of Three Rivers and a change in the wildfire’s management operation.

More than 7,000 acres have now been burned by the Paradise and Colony fires — at 5,914 and 1,125 acres, respectively. Both fires have 0% containment.

The Paradise Fire growth has been to the west, where the whole of Mineral King Road is now under a mandatory evacuation, along with areas along Sierra King Drive, Crest Lane, Hammond Drive and Oak Grove Drive, and areas along Highway 198 from the intersection with Mineral King Road to the Sequoia National Park entrance station.

On Thursday, the National Park Service’s fire management operation will transition to a Blue Type 1 National Incident Management team. There are 16 of these Type 1 teams in the country and they are equipped and deployed to handle the largest and highest-complexity emergency situations.

Air quality advisory

The fires are seriously affecting air quality. Particulate matter readings in Three Rivers were in the hazardous range for much of Tuesday. Some monitors in the area are reading AQI levels near 700. The AQI index is typically counted on a scale of zero to 500.

An air quality advisory is in place for the San Joaquin Valley.

This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Sequoia wildfires continue to grow uncontained. New Incident Management Team called in."