Wildfire, pandemic, gas prices, repeat: It's been a tough run for Yosemite businesses

Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY
·5 min read

As a wildfire burns in Yosemite National Park, nearby businesses dependent on tourism are seeing waves of cancelations in just the latest of many economic hits in the area.

The Washburn Fire has burned more than 4,700 acres near one of the park's most popular attractions, the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. The human-caused fire was 31 percent contained Friday, up from 23 percent the day before.

Since the blaze began a week ago, hotels in the area have been inundated with calls from guests canceling or asking whether their trip can be salvaged.

"This is one of the worst Julys I've seen," said Debbie Mackey, manager of the Yosemite Southgate Hotel and Suites in Oakhurst, one of the many small towns surrounding the park.

Businesses in Oakhurst and the surrounding area have been hit hardest because the blaze forced the closure of the nearest Yosemite entrance and the top attractions in that part of the park.

"We're normally booked up every day and now we're only halfway full, so that’s pretty big," Mackey said.

Tourists pose for a photo with a tunnel tree in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park in 2018.
Tourists pose for a photo with a tunnel tree in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park in 2018.

'We are weary'

July and the first half of August are typically one of the busiest times of year at the park. This year, with high gas prices and a reservation required to enter Yosemite, businesses were already quieter than in 2021.

The wildfire has been just the latest pain point. If it doesn't get contained soon, "our summer is ruined," Mackey said.

It's the kind of scenario that keeps Doug Shaw up at night.

"You wake up at 3 in the morning and think about it for three or four hours," said Shaw, who has owned Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort in Midpines for 26 years.

In 2018, when the Ferguson Fire closed the park for three devastating weeks, Shaw estimated that it cost him $300,000 in lost revenue. He had 2019 to bounce back, but then the coronavirus pandemic hit, which made for another lean year. In 2021, tourism to parks rebounded as vaccines allowed cooped-up tourists a little more freedom.

But now one week into the fire, close to 20% of his bookings have canceled, which translates to thousands of dollars in lost income.

The Wawona Hotel under a smoke-filled sky July 11 in Yosemite National Park.
The Wawona Hotel under a smoke-filled sky July 11 in Yosemite National Park.

It's all starting to feel like a rollercoaster.

"It takes an emotional toll," Shaw said. "I think we're becoming used to it to a degree, but I don’t think you can ever get used to something as scary as this when you've got so much at stake. We are weary."

The ups and downs also are taking their toll on Tony Olmeda, who has been slinging huevos rancheros and enchiladas as the owner of the El Cid restaurant in Oakhurst for the past 27 years.

"We had a couple of years with fires, a couple years with the pandemic and then fire again," he said. "It's been tough. It almost makes me want to retire early. I don’t want to deal with all this."

He said his business is down as much as 40%.

"I still get my local customers but they come in early – 5, 6, 7 o'clock," he said. "After 7:30, I get all the people going to the park. But we're not getting them right now."

Fighting the 'park's on fire' perception

It's too early to measure the overall economic impact of the fire, said Brooke Smith, spokeswoman for Visit Yosemite Madera County. The group estimated the 2018 Ferguson Fire caused $50 million in tourism losses to the region.

The Ferguson Fire's damage was so lasting, the tourism group created a hashtag, #YosemiteNow, in hopes of getting the word out that the park had reopened.

"Every time this happens, we deal with a perception issue of: 'Oh no, the park's on fire. I can’t go,'" Smith said.

Inez Gibbs of Austin, Texas, and her family decided to take their chances and continue their planned first-time trip to Yosemite this week despite news of the fire, hoping they'd get lucky.

The 41-year-old schoolteacher called her campsite in Yosemite Valley to get the operators' thoughts, and they told her that it was too late to cancel for that night and that the air quality was decent.

But when she and her husband, Michael, arrived with their 8-year-old son, Marcus, "it was just unbearable."

"My husband has asthma and he was having a really hard time, using an inhaler a lot. I was having chest tightness and my son had nosebleeds," Gibbs said Wednesday from San Francisco, where the family retreated after canceling their remaining four days in Yosemite and paying a penalty of one night of their remaining booking.

"We were all having a really hard time breathing," she said. "We just felt like it was not worth it to stay."

So businesses are watching the fire closely and hoping it doesn't go on much longer.

Crews have made some progress this week but have faced warm and dry weather. Firefighters were looking forward to a forecast of lower temperatures and higher humidity but warned people in the area to "expect smoky conditions."

Meanwhile in Northern California, a wildfire that started Thursday just south of Redding burned 12 structures, and damaged a tortoise sanctuary and injured some of the reptiles there. It was not immediately clear how many of the burned structures are homes.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Washburn Fire latest blow to Yosemite tourism near national park