125,000 acres have been burned in and around Yosemite National Park, this fire is considered one of California's largest wildfires in recent history. The fire has doubled in size since Thursday night and it is only 5% contained as of August 24, 2013. This wildfire is considered a "crown fire" because of it's tendency to burn and travel through the tree tops. More then 2,600 firefighters were working to contain the fire and keep it away from buildings and campgrounds. The firefighters have been assisted by trench-digging bulldozers and water-dropping aircrafts. The wildfire has destroyed nine buildings, but has threatened 5,500 since erupting. It briefly threatened San Francisco's power supply, causing Governor Jerry Brown to extend a state of emgency to San Francisco. As of Thursday, 102 evacuees stayed at an evacutation center set up at Mother Lode Fairgrounds in Sonora. There are not many evacuees because most of the homes under evacuation are vacation homes. This fire comes in as a "close second" to the wildfires in 1987 that burned hundreds of thousands of acres. For the most part campers in the Yosemite Valley are unaffected because the wildfire has been confined in the more remote northwestern section of the park.
-"Yosemite fire one of the largest in California history"
- Diana Marcum and Kurt Streeter, Los Angeles Times
- August 24, 2013
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http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-yosemite-fire-largest-california-rim-fire-20130824,0,3175324.story
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