USA TODAY International Edition
The Oak Fire grows near Yosemite National Park
One of California’s biggest wildfires this year exploded to more than 26 square miles Monday, forcing thousands to flee remote mountain communities as the blaze near Yosemite National Park burned amid sweltering temperatures.
The Oak Fire erupted Friday in Mariposa County, near the town of Midpines. Firefighters, meanwhile, made progress against the Washburn Fire 12 miles east of Yosemite that threatened the park’s largest sequoia grove.
The Washburn Fire was 87% contained after two weeks of firefighting, and the Oak Fire was 10% contained as of Monday, according to Cal Fire.
Crews “made good headway” against the Oak Fire on Sunday and “fire activity was not as extreme” as it has been.
The more than 2,500 firefighters battling the blaze were expected to encounter tough conditions including low humidity, high temperatures and steep terrain, Cal Fire said.
The agency also dispatched 17 helicopters, 281 fire engines, 66 dozers and 46 water tenders to fight the Oak Fire.
“It’s hot out there again,” Cal Fire spokesperson Natasha Fouts said Sunday. “And the fuel moisture levels are critically low.”
Light winds were blowing embers into tree branches “and because it’s so dry, it’s easy for the spot fires to get established and that’s what fuels the growth,” Fouts said.
Smoke drifted about 200 miles north toward Lake Tahoe and the same distance west into the San Francisco Bay Area, officials said.
By Sunday afternoon, the blaze had destroyed 10 residential and commercial structures and damaged five, according to Cal Fire. Pacific Gas & Electric said more than 2,600 homes and businesses had lost power as of Monday, with no indication when it would be restored.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County and more than 6,000 people in the Sierra Nevada foothills were evacuated.
A handful of residents defied the orders and stayed, said Adrienne Freeman with the U. S. Forest Service.
“We urge people to evacuate when told,” Freeman said. “This fire is moving very fast.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Cal Fire said.
California has experienced increasingly larger and deadlier wildfires in recent years with climate change warming and drying the western U. S. over the past three decades.