Yosemite Valley reopens after three-week closure due to the Ferguson Fire.
Yosemite Valley reopened Tuesday, three weeks after the deadly Ferguson Fire forced the closure of the popular summertime tourist attraction.
Yosemite Valley Lodge, the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, Half Dome Village and Housekeeping Camp came back to life just a day after the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. But even as businesses turned on their lights and people returned to work, 839 firefighters continued to battle the blaze that has killed two firefighters and destroyed 10 structures.
The fire had burned 96,606 acres by Tuesday night and was 87 percent contained.
It’s one of 11 large wildfires burning in California that has more than 12,500 firefighters working. The fires have burned 740,000 acres and damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Here’s a look at some of the other major fires in California:
The Mendocino Complex: The blaze, made up of the Ranch and River fires, burned 354,910 acres as of Tuesday night in Mendocino, Lake and Colusa counties.
The 305,990-acre Ranch Fire was 64 percent contained Tuesday evening, while the River Fire was fully contained at 48,920 acres on Monday.
Fire crews on the Mendocino Complex were mourning the loss of Utah firefighter, Matthew Burchett, 42, who was killed after arriving Aug. 2 with five other firefighters from the Draper City Fire Department.
“We have different engine crews and different fire crews working doing structure defense that are in the threatened areas,” said Christian Linnemann, a Cal Fire spokesman. “The morale is affecting everybody, especially with the death on the line” Monday.
Burchett was the sixth firefighter to die battling wildfires in California this year, making 2018 the deadliest fire season for firefighters in the past decade. Authorities are still investigating the circumstances that led to Burchett’s death.
Since Monday, one more residence was destroyed in
the blaze, bringing the total to 147. A total of 1,025 structures remained under threat.
The inferno is expected to be fully contained Sept. 1.
The Carr Fire: The conflagration had consumed 211,019 acres and was 65 percent contained by Tuesday night.
A mandatory evacuation order was lifted Tuesday afternoon for the Rainbow Lake area.
By Tuesday evening, 4,101 personnel were working to control containment lines while facing challenges posed by dense timber, dry vegetation and wind.
The state’s sixth-most destructive fire has killed eight people, including three firefighters and a woman and her two great-grandchildren, in addition to destroying 1,599 structures.
The Holy Fire: This fire in Orange and Riverside counties was 59 percent contained and had burned 22,986 acres by Tuesday night.