A destructive wildfire near Yosemite National Park burned out of control through dry, scaly forest on Sunday and had become one of California’s largest wildfires of the year, forcing thousands of residents to fleeing remote mountain communities.
About 2,000 firefighters battled the Oak Fire, along with planes and excavators, facing tough conditions that included steep terrain, sweltering temperatures and low humidity, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.
“It’s hot again today,” Cal Fire spokeswoman Natasha Fouts said Sunday. “And the moisture levels in the fuel are very low.”
Crews on the ground protected homes as air tankers dropped retardant on 50-foot (15-meter) flames running along ridges east of the small community of Jerseydale.
Light winds blew embers forward on tree branches “and because it’s so dry, it’s easy for local fires to get established and that’s what fuels the growth,” Fouts said.
The fire broke out Friday southwest of the park near the town of Midpines in Mariposa County. Officials described Saturday as “explosive fire behavior” as flames tore through bone-dry vegetation caused by the worst drought in decades.
Flames consume a home on Triangle Rd. as the Oak Fire burns in Mariposa County, California, on Saturday, July 23, 2022. Noah Berger/AP
As of Sunday, the fire had consumed more than 22 square miles (56 square km) of forest land, without containment, Cal Fire said. The cause was under investigation.
Evacuations were ordered for more than 6,000 people living in a several-mile swath of the sparsely populated Sierra Nevada foothills, though a handful of residents defied orders and stayed behind, Adrienne Freeman said. of the US Forest Service.
“We urge people to evacuate when told to,” he said. “This fire is moving very fast.”
Lynda Reynolds-Brown and her husband Aubrey waited for news about the fate of their home from an evacuation center at an elementary school. They fled as ash rained down and the fire raced down a hill toward their property.
“It looked like it was over our house and it was coming really fast,” Reynolds-Brown told KCRA-TV.
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County due to the effects of the fire.
The flames destroyed at least 10 residential and commercial structures and damaged five others, Cal Fire said. Assessment teams were traveling through mountain towns to check for additional damage, Fouts said.
Cal Fire crews battle the Oak Fire on July 23, 2022, near Mariposa, California. The fast-moving Oak Fire is burning outside Yosemite National Park. Getty Images
Numerous roads were closed, including a stretch of State Route 140 which is one of the main routes into Yosemite.
California has seen increasingly large and deadly wildfires in recent years as climate change has made the West much warmer and drier over the past 30 years. Scientists have said that the weather will continue to become more extreme and wildfires more frequent, destructive and unpredictable.
Pacific Gas & Electric said on its website that more than 3,100 homes and businesses in the area had lost power as of Sunday and there was no indication when it would be restored. “PG&E is unable to access affected equipment,” the utility said as flames roared Friday.
The Oak Fire was sparked as firefighters advanced against an earlier blaze, the Washburn Fire, which burned to the edge of a giant sequoia forest in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. The 7.5-square-mile (19-square-kilometer) fire was nearly 80 percent contained after burning for two weeks and moving into the Sierra National Forest.