The Yosemite National Park Fire has already been labeled one of California’s largest wildfires in its recent history causing for many to abandon their homes, hit the jump for more detail!
The California wildfire in the Yosemite National Park began last Saturday and has picked up in force since Thursday. The wildfire has been stated to be one of the worst that residents have seen. The fire has burned over 125,000 acres of land, destructing nine structures and threatened about 5,500 others.
“This fire is burning unlike anything we’ve seen in this area historically,” said Ashley Taylor, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.
“More than 2,600 firefighters battled the blaze on Saturday. Although they were assisted by trench-digging bulldozers and water-dropping aircraft, their efforts had little effect. The Rim fire, which began eight days ago in a remote canyon of the Stanislaus National Forest, was just 5% contained”
The threat of the fire has caused for many to abandon their homes after looking to the sky and seeing large amounts of heavy smoke becoming more and more dense.
The intensity of the blaze is fueled by not only the hot dry California weather but also the fire began forming a “crown” at the top of trees creating a “crown fire”. The Crown fire brought in: “intense flames that skip across forested land faster than a wildfire that creeps along near the ground”.
The wild fire has forced evacuations, shut down the main highway to the famed national park, and is the cause of damage in the Hetch Hetchy water and power system.
“The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has been forced to shut down two of its three hydroelectric power stations near the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, and Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday extended a state of emergency to include San Francisco because the reservoir is a major source of electricity and water for the city”
Although the national park has been affected, it has not affected its camp grounds, which is located further away in the Yosemite Valley.
“It’s 20 miles from the Yosemite Valley,” Gediman said. “It’s still beautiful skies and very little smoke impact to Yosemite Valley and the park.”
“No evacuation plans were in the works, he said. For now, Yosemite’s campgrounds are still full and vacations are in full swing. Closures along Highway 120 have cut off westbound traffic from the park, but Gediman said drivers have other options, including Highway 140”
“I’ve worked here for 17 years, and the last time we totally closed the park was after the big flood in 1997,” Gediman said.
Via LATimes
