Pilot dies in air tanker crash while fighting new Yosemite Fire

Highway 140 is closed through Yosemite tonight as firefighters are battling a new fire in the National Park. The Dog Fire began on Tuesday afternoon at 2:45 p.m.

Tragedy struck early in this fire when a Cal Fire pilot fighting the fire with an air tanker crashed and died. The family of the pilot has asked that identification be withheld until they could get a hold of all family members.

The tanker that crashed was an S-2T, one of several aircraft that Cal Fire deploys to battle wildfires.

The fire began on El Portal Road between the park boundary and Arch Rock Entrance Station. Fire crews and aircraft are on scene and responding to the fire which had burned 130 acres by Tuesday night. The community of Foresta has been evacuated.