A catastrophic wildfire near Yosemite National Park grew out of control Sunday, becoming one of California's worst blazes of the year and driving hundreds of inhabitants to abandon remote mountain settlements.
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, 2,000 firefighters, together with airplanes and bulldozers, were battling the Oak Fire under challenging conditions that included steep terrain and high temperatures.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Declares State of Emergency
The fire broke out Friday southwest of the park at Midpines in Mariposa County. Officials reported explosive fire behavior as flames raced through bone-dry vegetation caused by the worst drought in decades on Saturday. Cal Fire said the incident had destroyed more than 22 square miles of forest area by Sunday, with no containment. The reason was being investigated. Over 6,000 people were ordered to evacuate across a several-mile stretch of the sparsely inhabited Sierra Nevada foothills.
Because of the fire's consequences, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Mariposa County. Cal Fire said flames destroyed ten residential and business properties and damaged five others. Several roads were blocked, including State Route 140 between Carstens Road and Allred Road, which is one of the primary entrances to Yosemite, NPR reported.
As climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last 30 years, California has seen an increase in the size and severity of wildfires in recent years. According to scientists, the weather will get more intense, and wildfires will become more common, devastating, and unpredictable.
As stated on Pacific Gas & Electric's website, more than 2,600 homes and businesses in the region had no power as of Friday afternoon, with no indication of when it would be restored. According to the company, PG&E is unable to reach the damaged equipment.
On Friday, a shoeless older guy attempting to flee the fire wrecked his car into a ditch in a blocked area and was assisted by firefighters. He safely drove away from the scene and did not appear injured. Meanwhile, firefighters have made substantial progress in the fight against a wildfire that started in Yosemite National Park and spread to the Sierra National Forest.
The Washburn Fire burned nearly 7.5 square miles of woodland and was 79 percent controlled on Friday. It was one of California's biggest fires of the year, along with the Lost Lake Fire in Riverside County, which was entirely controlled in June and covered 9 square miles.
The fire broke out on July 7 and prompted the closure of Yosemite's southern gate and the evacuation of the Wawona village as it raged on the outskirts of Mariposa Grove, which is home to hundreds of gigantic sequoias, the world's biggest trees by volume, as per CBS News.
Global Warming
There was evidence of global warming everywhere in the country, with 85 million Americans in more than a dozen states under a weekend heat alert. Former Vice President Al Gore, a relentless climate champion, issued strong concerns about "inaction" by US politicians on Sunday's nonresponse to the problem. When asked if he thinks US President Joe Biden should declare a climate emergency, as Biden has suggested, Gore was forthright.
He also said that current catastrophes, such as catastrophic heat waves in Europe, should serve as a wake-up call for members of Congress who have so far failed to support climate change measures.
The central and northeastern United States are bearing the brunt of the current severe temperatures, which are not anticipated to peak until Sunday but have thrown public health experts into a loop. A heat advisory has been issued for cities along the northeast coast, from Boston to Philadelphia to Washington.
Not even the usually cool Pacific Northwest will escape the far-reaching heat, with the region expected to face several days in the 90s next week. Cities have been forced to open cooling stations and increase outreach to at-risk communities such as the homeless and those without access to air conditioning.
Extreme heat waves have hit various regions of the globe in recent months, such as Western Europe in July and India from March to April, incidents that scientists say are an unmistakable sign of a warming climate, according to NDTV.
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