Status: 07/24/2022 02:35 a.m
The western United States is suffering from a long-lasting drought, and forest fires keep coming. The flames are spreading rapidly near Yosemite National Park. Thousands had to go to safety.
A severe forest fire is raging near Yosemite National Park in the US state of California. The fire had spread “explosively,” local authorities said. By Saturday afternoon (local time), an area of a good 38 square kilometers was affected, as the competent authority Calfire announced on its website. The so-called Oak Fire broke out in the Mariposa district on Friday and initially could not be contained.
By Saturday, more than 6,000 people in the sparsely populated area had been asked to leave their homes. Ten residential and commercial buildings were destroyed and five damaged, the California Fire Department reported, with 2,000 buildings threatened by the fire.
Several roads were closed because of the blaze, including Highway 140, one of the main access routes to Yosemite. More than 400 firefighters are deployed with heavy equipment and supported by helicopters.
Firefighters battle the Oak Fire in Midpines, California.
Image: EPA
“Extraordinary Fire Conditions”
Sierra National Forest spokesman Daniel Patterson said the region’s worst drought in decades, heat and bone-dry vegetation were also creating “extraordinary fire conditions.” The flames spread at high speed.
Energy company Pacific Gas & Electric said on its website that power to more than 2,600 homes and businesses in the region had been disrupted since Friday. There is no telling how long this will last.
A fire that broke out in Yosemite Park on July 7 and spread to the Sierra National Forest was nearly 80 percent under control as of Saturday, according to park officials. It destroyed almost 20 square kilometers of forest.
Suffering from a prolonged drought, the western United States has seen wildfires of exceptional magnitude and intensity in recent years. At the same time, the fire season is getting longer and longer. The fire brigades fear particularly severe forest fires this year.