YOSEMITE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Smoke seen rising from a beloved hotel inside Yosemite National Park was “not a fire,” according to the park’s concessionaire.

Footage of a fire at the Ahwahnee Hotel was posted online on Monday evening, showing smoke billowing from the top of the building.

Yosemite Hospitality, the concessionaire responsible for the park’s restaurants, stores and lodging (including the Ahwahnee Hotel), confirmed in a statement to YourCentralValley.com that Monday’s incident at the Ahwahnee Hotel “was not a fire” but instead smoke in an elevator bank in the building, caused by “a faulty generator unit.”

The concessionaire added that guests were “briefly evacuated and safely returned to the hotel.”

The impacted elevator remains out of service during repairs, and guests are using a service elevator staffed by an attendant. All other hotel rooms and amenities remain open.

Yosemite Hospitality

The conditions at facilities inside Yosemite National Park have previously received criticism, following an open letter in 2024 accusing the operator of mismanagement and the continued closure of the Wawona Hotel after what was described as a comprehensive condition assessment of the hotel complex.