Agencies-Gaza post
California has a state of emergency, evacuations after massive explosive
A fast-moving wildfire in California has ordered the evacuation of more than 6,000 residents who live outside Yosemite National Park as the drought and high temperatures continue to fuel hazardous fires in the western United States.
In Mariposa County, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency on Saturday after the Oak fire, which started a day earlier, grew to 4,800 hectares (11,900 acres).
That occurred as firefighters were making headway on a different fire, the Washburn fire, which had endangered a grove of beloved old gigantic sequoia trees in Yosemite.
The Oak fire, the biggest in the state so far this year, occurred in the midst of a particularly active wildfire season, which scientists say has grown more destructive over the past 30 years as a result of climate change.
The most recent California fire was being fought by more than 400 firefighters, who were utilizing helicopters, other aircraft, and bulldozers to douse the flames.
The state fire service, Cal Fire, stated in a statement on Saturday that firefighters are being challenged by explosive fire behavior.
As “severe with regular runs, spot fires, and group torching,” it described the Oak fire’s behavior.
According to Cal Fire, the blaze had destroyed 10 residential and business buildings by Saturday morning, damaged five more, and threatened 2,000 more.
“The fire is spreading rapidly. Yesterday, this fire was spewing embers up to two miles (three kilometers) ahead of itself, according to Daniel Patterson, a spokesman for the Sierra National Forest.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there have been a total of 37,774 wildfires in the US this year, consuming around 2.24 million hectares (5.5 million acres), the highest number in both categories since 2012.
There were 95 active fires as of Saturday, consuming over 913,400 hectares (2.26 million acres) in 15 US states. The center also issued an extreme weather warning for three fires in Texas and one in Wyoming last week.
