Yosemite re-opens valley as flames and smoke linger
LOS ANGELES: The heart of Yosemite National Park in California, shut down for nearly three weeks due to a deadly wildfire, was re-opened to the public, but smoke lingered in the air and a key route to the park’s best known landmarks remained closed.
The re-opening of Yosemite Valley on Tuesday, by far the most heavily visited area of the park, came as firefighters continued to make slow, steady progress containing the last hotspots of the Ferguson Fire, which erupted on July 13 at the edge of Yosemite.
The blaze, one of the largest of dozens that have burned across California this summer, has charred nearly 39,250ha in and around the park’s western end, but fire crews have carved containment lines around 86% of its perimeter.
The park closure has taken a major toll on the area’s local economy. Some 4.3 million visitors spent an estimated US$452mil (RM1.8bil) last year, mostly during the summer.
Two roads into Yosemite Valley and the valley itself were re-opened on Tuesday for the first time since July 25. But the north-south entrance route, Highway 41, remained closed, along with a road to the famed Glacier Point overlook and the Merced Grove of giant sequoia trees, park spokesman Jamie Richards said.
Richards said a haze of smoke lingered above the valley on Tuesday but did not impede views of Bridalveil Fall and the towering granite monoliths of El Capitan and Half Dome.