U.S. fires finding lots of fuel

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Tall grass from a deluge of winter rains is fueling wildfires throughout the Western U.S., damaging more than a dozen homes in Nevada and threatening hundreds more structures in California, authorities said Tuesday.

Residents living the mountain communities southwest of Yosemite National Park in California were either ordered or advised to leave home. Flames threaten power lines providing electricity to Yosemite, but the fire remain miles from the popular tourist destination.

Some nearby roads park visitors travel have been closed, fire officials said.

The wildfire burning on steep hills covered by dense grass and forestland threatens roughly 300 structures that include homes and other buildings, officials said.

“There’s ample fuel and steep terrain,” said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman DeeDee Garcia said. “It makes firefighting difficult.”

In a remote northeastern corner of Nevada, roughly 14 homes were damaged or destroyed by a wildfire that started Monday. Officials have lifted an evacuation advisory, allowing hundreds of people to return home, authorities said.

Record rain and snowfall drenching California and Nevada this winter caused grassland to thrive throughout the region.

In Nevada, wind is driving the flames through invasive cheat grass — growing twice the norm, U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokesman Greg Deimel said.