 |
| Photo Credit: AP. |
Severe heat wave is developing in California just as firefighters battle wildfire in Yosemite. Firefighters Monday fought to put off wildfires that threatened a grove of giant sequoias and a small community in Yosemite National Park, The Associated Press reports.
By Monday morning,
the Washburn Fire on the western flank of the Sierra Nevada had scorched about
3.6 square miles which represents an increase of about 300 acres (121 hectares)
overnight, The Associated Press cited an incident update.
Widespread Destruction
The fire
threatened more than 500 mature sequoias in the park’s Mariposa Grove and the
nearby community of Wawona, which has been evacuated.
The area in
the southern portion of Yosemite was closed to visitors but the rest of the
national was accessible.
A sprinkler
system was reportedly set up within the grove to maintain moisture. A 3,000-year-old
Grizzly Giant was did not suffer severe damage.
“Fortunately,
the Mariposa Grove has a long history of prescribed burning and studies have
shown that these efforts reduce the impacts of high-severity unwanted fire,” a
National Park Service statement said, The Associated Press reports.
Heat Advisory issued for the Central Valley
The
Associated Press reported that a heat advisory was issued for the Central
Valley sprawling below the Sierra while up in the fire area, a high temperature
of 88 degrees (131 Celsius) was forecast for the village of Wawona, where hundreds
of tourists were forced to evacuate last Friday.
 |
| Photo Credit: AP. |
“Fortunately
there has not been any erratic winds that have affected fire behavior,” said
fire information officer Marc Peebles, The Associated Press reported. “We do
have the high pressure that’s over the top of the fire which is causing the
increase in temperatures. However, we do get a decent amount of humidity at
night which moderates fire behavior which allows our night shift firefighters
to do good work.”