Wawona, Calif.: A fast-moving brush fire near Yosemite National Park exploded in size in one of California’s largest wildfires of the year, prompting evacuation orders for thousands and cutting off electricity to more than 2000 homes and businesses.
The Oak Fire started Friday afternoon southwest of the park near the town of Midpines in Mariposa County and had grown to nearly 48 square kilometers by Saturday (US time), according to the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Protection. Fires of California, or Cal Fire. . It erupted as firefighters advanced against an earlier fire burning at the edge of a giant sequoia forest in the southernmost part of Yosemite Park.
Strong winds blow tree tops as a wildfire burns east of the Midpines in Mariposa County, California, Friday, July 22. Credit: AP
Evacuation orders were in effect for more than 6,000 people living in a several-mile swath in the sparsely populated rural area, said Daniel Patterson, a spokesman for the Sierra National Forest.
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County due to the effects of the Oak Fire.
More than 400 firefighters were battling the blaze, along with helicopters, other aircraft and bulldozers, facing harsh conditions that included hot weather, low humidity and bone-dry vegetation caused by the worst drought in decades, he said Patterson.
“The explosive behavior of the fire is challenging firefighters,” Cal Fire said in a statement describing the Oak Fire’s activity as “extreme with frequent runs, spot fires and cluster fires.”
A home is engulfed in flames as the Oak Tree Fire burns Saturday in Mariposa County, California. Credit: AP
By Saturday morning, the fire had destroyed 10 residential and commercial structures, damaged five more and threatened 2,000 more structures, Cal Fire said. The fire caused numerous road closures, including the closure of Highway 140 between Carstens Road and Allred Road, blocking one of the main routes into Yosemite.
California has seen increasingly large and deadly 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 become more extreme and wildfires more frequent, destructive and unpredictable.