California

Gov. Jerry Brown Declares Emergency for Mariposa County Wildfire Burning Near Yosemite

California fire officials said late Tuesday the fire burned at least 39 square miles and was just 5 percent contained

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 leaving Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency in California as thousands of residents outside of Yosemite National Park fled a 30-square-mile blaze, authorities said Tuesday.

Flames threaten more than 1,500 homes and buildings in mountain communities southwest of Yosemite, clearing out the small town of Mariposa, California. At least eight structures had been destroyed and one damaged by late Tuesday in what is being dubbed the Detwiler Fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.

Yosemite, though, remains open to the public.

The fire burning since Sunday also put at risk power lines providing electricity to the park, and it has closed roads traveled by tourists, officials said.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday declared an emergency, bolstering the state's resources to battle the fire that he said has forced thousands of residents to flee and is expected to continue burning.

The fire burned at least 30 square miles and was just 5 percent contained, Cal Fire officials said late Tuesday.

Record rain and snowfall in the mountains this winter was celebrated for bringing California's five-year drought to its knees, but it has turned into a challenge for firefighters battling flames feeding on dense vegetation, officials said.

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

Western Wildfires
AP
Merced and Mariposa County Sheriff's Office members gather during a wildfire in Mariposa County, Calif., Tuesday, July 18, 2017. 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. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection on Tuesday ordered evacuations for some residents living southwest of Yosemite National Park.

Smoke from the fire in Mariposa County has drifted more than 150 miles away to Reno.

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 and assess damage, authorities said.

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.

"It is very thick, very dense,'' he said. "You get the winds and the density of the grass, the fire just goes.''

This summer's high temperatures follow a very wet winter that dumped more than 60 feet of snow at ski resorts in the Sierra west of Reno.

The California blaze near Lake McClure east of Modesto has charred more than 24 square miles. Officials report having it 5 percent contained.

It's burning near Highway 49, a historical route winding its way up California foothills of the western Sierra Nevada dotted with communities and landmarks that sprouted up during the state's Gold Rush.

To the south, crews have increased containment of a 29-square-mile blaze burning for a 10th day in the mountains of Santa Barbara County. It is 62 percent contained after destroying 16 homes.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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