Yosemite fire: Winds will be biggest challenge for firefighters

Winds will be the biggest challenge in the coming days for firefighters battling the rapidly growing Rim fire burning in and around Yosemite National Park.

The blaze, the largest wild fire burning in California, has scorched more than 133,000 acres over the past eight days and is 7% contained.

Ridge winds are expected to increase this afternoon and tonight, which could hamper containment efforts, said KevinDurfee, a National Weather Service meteorologist inHanford.

“It really looks like the weather is not going to be terribly cooperative in the next three days,” he said.

Winds could gust up to 30 mph in the area around the fire, and will remain strong Sunday and Monday, said Drew Peterson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sacramento.

Temperatures are expected to remain steady at normal to below normal, which means no excessive heat to dry out fuels, he said. Humidity will be about 20% to 25%, he said.

“It could be drier, much drier than it is. The main thing they’re going against is the winds,” Peterson said. “If they can make it until Tuesday, it looks like conditions will be better.”

Winds are expected to continue blowing from the south and southwest, so smoke should not be a problem where the bulk of Yosemite tourists are, Durfee said.

PHOTOS: Rim fire at Yosemite

Via: Los Angeles Times

Continue Reading...

California gov. declares state of emergency as wildfire spreads into Yosemite

A raging wildfire along the northwest edge of Yosemite National Park is gaining strength Saturday morning as firefighters scramble to protect nearby mountain communities. 

The fire held steady overnight at nearly 200 square miles, but a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says firefighters didn't get their usual reprieve from cooler early morning temperatures Saturday. 

The Rim Fire started in a remote canyon of the Stanislaus National Forest a week ago and is just 5 percent contained with more than 2,600 firefighters on the lines. A half dozen aircraft are being used to battle the blaze. 

The Yosemite Valley, the part of the park frequented by tourists and known around the world for such iconic sights as the Half Dome and El Capitan rock formations and Yosemite falls, remained open, clear of smoke and free from other signs of the fire that remained about 20 miles away.

But the blaze was reverberating around the region. It brought a governor's declaration of emergency late Friday for San Francisco 150 miles away because of the threat the fire posed to utility transmission to the city, and caused smoke warnings and event cancellations in Nevada as smoke blew over the Sierra Nevada and across state lines.

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading....