Lightning first ignited the Meadow fire on July 20. For several weeks, park officials let the small, high-altitude (8,000 feet or 2,440 meters) blaze burn in order to preserve the park’s natural fire patterns and because it posed no threat to public safety, according to The Los Angeles Times. Indeed, the fire had burned just 19 acres (8 hectares) over the first 49 days.

Then winds surged on September 7 and the Meadow fire suddenly flared up. By September 8, the fire had charred 2,582 acres (1,044 hectares). Though it is large enough to provoke dramatic photographs from the ground, the fire is small compared to California’s largest fires. For comparison, the Happy Camp Complex fire in northern California has burned more than 99,000 acres and was only partly contained as of the same date.

Photo was taken by Yosemite National Park staff on September 7, 2014. Half Dome is on the left, with a smoke plume rising from Little Yosemite Valley to its right.