Yosemite fire quadruples in size, forces evacuation
Yosemite fire quadrupled in size as of Monday morning, according to officials. The growing Yosemite fire forced the helicopter evacuation of about 100 park visitors.
Yosemite fire quadrupled in size as of Monday morning, according to officials. The growing Yosemite fire forced the helicopter evacuation of about 100 park visitors.
Officials say a wildfire in the backcountry of聽Yosemite聽National Park that forced the helicopter evacuation of about 100 park visitors nearly quadrupled in size overnight.
The wind-whipped fire had burned through about 4 square miles as of Monday morning, up from about a square mile the previous night. Park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said it is not threatening any structures, and the park remains open. The fire, however, has forced the closure of trails to聽Yosemite's聽iconic Half Dome peak as well as a nearby campsite.
The visitors who were evacuated on Sunday included hikers who had climbed Half Dome. Cobb said officials were confident they had pulled everyone in danger out, but they would continue to look for anyone left behind.
Calm winds forecast for Monday along with relatively high humidity were expected to help with the firefight.
Yosemite isn't the only area to be hit with wildfires this season. As the Monitor's聽Brad Knickerbocker reported over the weekend:
A brush fire in Corvallis, Oregon has also forced the evacuation of at least 200 homes.
Some wet weather is expected to hit southern California, but the outlook farther north remains dry. As the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported early Monday:
So far in 2014, 38,717 wildfires have scorched聽2,796,229 acres of land, according to the NIFC.
For a map of active forest fires, visit the US Forest Service's Active Fire Mapping Program.聽