Brand in Yosemite already covers nearly 1,000 acres
Hundreds of firefighters are still trying to control the brand in the well-known Yosemite Natural Park, in California, on Monday. The flames are getting closer and closer to the Mariposa Grove sector, home to hundreds of the world’s largest redwoods. The fire now covers approximately 945 hectares.
Source: BELGA
“The brand is absolutely out of control,” said park spokesman Nancy Philippe. The weather forecasts do not help: it will also remain dry and warm in the west of the States in the coming days. “We are doing everything we can to extinguish the fire.”
At the moment 545 firefighters are already at work, but that number will increase further in the coming hours.
This part of the park was largely redeveloped and was reopened to the public in 2018. Some of the trees in the sector are more than 3,000 years old. The largest is 83 meters high and has a circumference of eleven meters. Meanwhile, the second largest tree, Grizzly Giant, is being prepared for the arrival of the flames by constantly watering it.
Evacuations due to the July 7 Washburn Fire occurred in the town of Wawona in the park itself and among hundreds of campers close to Wawona.