Wildfire spreads into Yosemite, before holiday weekend
17 hours ago
Efforts to contain the so-called Rim Fire, which has grown to become California's sixth biggest wildfire ever, were also being boosted by the deployment of a military drone approved by the Pentagon.
The fire, which now covers more than 192,000 acres, or 300 square miles, and is 30 percent contained, has also threatened San Francisco's water supply, due to ash falling on a key reservoir.
The blaze, about a quarter of which is now inside the park's boundaries, "is expected to continue its eastward spread farther into the west side of Yosemite National Park," said the latest firefighters' online update.
The fire, which started west of the park on August 17, is threatening some 4,500 structures and on Wednesday forced the closure of a second main road into the major US tourist attraction ahead of the Labor Day weekend.
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Raging California wildfire threatens more of Yosemite
The
wildfire near Yosemite National Park is 20 percent contained, while
more than 4,000 firefighters work towards quelling the huge blaze
altogether. NBC's Tom Costello reports.
By Tom Costello and Tracy Jarrett, NBC News
A
California wildfire that has scorched an area nearly as large as New
York City near Yosemite National Park was 20 percent contained Tuesday,
officials said. But the raging blaze was expected to move farther into
the park and threaten a reservoir that provides most of San Francisco's
water.The so-called Rim Fire, has charred 179,480 acres, or about 280 square miles, making it California's seventh largest fire in state history, according to the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It threatens 4,500 structures as well as the power and water utilities for San Francisco, roughly 200 miles to the west.
The flames also loomed over towering sequoias that are among the largest and oldest living things on the planet. The iconic trees can withstand fire, but brutal conditions — including harsh winds and thick brush — have prompted park employees to take extra precautions in the Tuolumne and Merced groves, according to the Associated Press.
"All of the plants and trees in Yosemite are important, but the giant sequoias are incredibly important both for what they are and as symbols of the National Park System," park spokesman Scott Gediman told the AP.
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Firefighting felons: Hundreds of inmates battling the Yosemite blaze
Jae C. Hong / AP
Inmate
firefighters, who are paid $1 an hour as part of California's
conservation prison-camp program, work the Rim Fire threatening
Yosemite.
But 673 of the wildland firefighters battling the ferocious blaze around Yosemite National Park have something that other hotshot crew members do not: a prison identification number.
They're part of California's conservation camp program, which takes convicts out of jail cells and puts them on the front lines of wildfires, where they earn $1 an hour cutting containment lines that keep flames from spreading.
"They are in the thick of it," said Capt. Jorge Santana of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The agency has sent 621 men and 52 women to tackle the so-called Rim Fire, which has engulfed nearly 300 square miles of land in 12 days. More have been deployed to 20 other fires across the state.
Max Whittaker/Reuters
Inmate firefighters line up for dinner at the Rim Fire camp near Buck Meadows, Calif.
"They risk their lives."
Other states have inmate firefighters, but California's program — with 42 minimum-security camps and more than 4,100 volunteers — is the biggest and oldest, dating to 1946.
Aaron Olguin, 30, said he heard about it soon after he was sentenced to four years and four months for a drunken-driving crash in which people were injured.
Like other applicants, he underwent two weeks of punishing fitness training: grueling hikes, 9-minute mile-long runs and a regime of military-style calisthenics. Then came two weeks of job training by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
"We hiked straight up mountains with 45 pounds on our back, carrying tools and water and other necessities," he said.
Olguin got some time shaved off his sentence and spent almost three years in the program before being released last November. He estimates he worked up to 20 fires and recalled some "close calls" with falling rocks and trees at night.
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Military drone drafted to tackle massive Yosemite wildfire; smoke cancels football games
The
Rim Fire burns along Highway 120 near Yosemite National Park, Calif.,
on Aug. 25. With winds gusting and flames jumping from treetop to
treetop, hundreds of firefighters have been deployed to protect
communities in the path of the Rim Fire raging north of Yosemite
National Park.
An unmanned military Predator drone, similar to those that have seen action in Afghanistan, has been called in to battle against a raging California wildfire that has scorched an area almost as large as New York City.
The enormous Rim Fire, which has charred 200,000 acres in 13 days, has unleashed a smoky haze that has worsened air quality more than 100 miles away in Nevada. High school athletics officials canceled all football games Friday and Saturday across eight counties in both states as the air quality index hovered around the "unhealthy" level.
The drone, an MQ-1 aircraft remotely piloted by the 163rd Wing of the California National Guard, is helping to provide round-the-clock information to firefighters.
The
wildfire burning near Yosemite National Park was more than 30 percent
contained as more than 4,000 firefighters continued to make progress.
NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
"The drone is providing data
directly back to the incident commander, allowing him to make quick
decisions about which resources to deploy and where," California fire
spokesman Daniel Berlant said.Previously, crews tackling the blaze relied on helicopters that needed to refuel every two hours, for their air information.
But the drone, which is the size of a small Cessna plane, will remain over the burn zone for up to 22 hours at a time, its fitted cameras providing real-time video on the fire's movement.
Pilots will operate the craft remotely from March Air Reserve Base in Riverside. It will be escorted by a manned aircraft.
Officials were eager to point out that the images are being used only to aid in the effort to contain the fire, which has become California's sixth-largest on record.
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