Thousands ordered to flee California wildfire near Yosemite Park prompting evacuation orders for thousands of people.
A fast-moving brush fire near Yosemite National Park exploded in size Saturday into one of California’s largest wildfires of the year, shutting off power to more than 2,000 homes and businesses.
“Explosive fire behaviour is challenging firefighters,” Cal Fire said in a statement Saturday that described the Oak Fire’s activity as “extreme with frequent runs, spot fires and group torching.”
The Oak Fire started Friday afternoon southwest of the park near the town of Midpines in Mariposa County and by Saturday had grown to nearly 15 square miles (38 square kilometres), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
It erupted as firefighters made progress against an earlier blaze that burned to the edge of a grove of giant sequoias in the southernmost part of Yosemite Park.
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Thousands ordered to flee California
Evacuation orders were put in effect Saturday for over 6,000 people living across a several-mile span in the sparsely populated, rural area, said Daniel Patterson, a spokesman for the Sierra National Forest.
“The fire is moving quickly. This fire was throwing embers out in front of itself for up to 2 miles yesterday,” Patterson said. “These are exceptional fire conditions.” The cause of the fire was under investigation.
More than 400 firefighters were battling the blaze, along with helicopters, other aircraft and bulldozers, facing tough conditions that included hot weather, low humidity and bone-dry vegetation caused by the worst drought in decades, Patterson said.
Yosemite Park
By Saturday morning, the fire had destroyed 10 residential and commercial structures, damaged five others and was threatening 2,000 more structures, Cal Fire said.
The blaze prompted numerous road closures, including a shutdown of Highway 140 between Carstens Road and Allred Road — blocking one of the main routes into Yosemite Park.
California has experienced increasingly larger and deadlier wildfires in recent years as climate change has made the West much warmer and drier over the past 30 years.
Scientists have said the weather will continue to be more extreme and wildfires more frequent, destructive and unpredictable.