Wildfire explodes beyond 14,000 acres near Yosemite National Park
About 6,000 people have been ordered to evacuate because of a wildfire burning thousands of acres near Yosemite National Park and challenging the firefighters working to suppress the flames.
The Oak fire began Friday afternoon and on Sunday morning had burned more than 14,000 acres outside Yosemite, according to Cal Fire.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County on Saturday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is also providing resources to suppress the fire, Newsom said.
Cal Fire spokeswoman Natasha Fouts said 6,062 people had been evacuated from the area as of Saturday morning. The fire was also threatening 2,000 structures, including residential and commercial buildings, as of Saturday, Fouts said. The agency’s phone lines were busy and its voice-mail box was full when the Washington Post called to request comment Sunday morning.
The wildfire had destroyed 10 structures and damaged five as of Sunday, according to the department’s website. None of the Oak fire had been contained Sunday.
Since the blaze began, a team has been working to evacuate residents. Firefighters are seeing “explosive fire behavior,” meaning the wildfire has developed tall plumes of smoke and water that stretch above the fire.
“This fire in particular has just had a really dangerous rate of spread,” Fouts said.
It’s peak fire season in California, where climate change has heightened the intensity and frequency of wildfires.
Mariposa County has seen several large wildfires in recent years, including the 2013 Rim fire, which is among California’s 20 largest wildfires.
This month, a wildfire in Yosemite threatened hundreds of giant sequoias in Mariposa Grove, the park’s largest grove. On Friday, firefighters assumed command of the Washburn fire, which began July 7, according to the incident management team.
The fire began near Midpines, along Highway 140, one of the routes to Yosemite. The highway is closed, along with more than 10 other roads.