California: Forest fire spreads near Yosemite National Park

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Flames of the "Beckwourth Complex Fire" in the Sierra Nevada on July 10th

Photo: Noah Berger / AP

Hundreds of fires are currently raging in the western United States and Canada, and dozen more fires have been added in the past few days alone.

One of them, the so-called "river" fire, spreads rapidly near the famous Yosemite National Park in the US state of California.

The forest fire had quickly grown to an area of ​​32 square kilometers, as the authority Cal Fire announced on Monday afternoon.

Hundreds of residents had to leave their homes.

The flames destroyed five buildings.

Almost 500 helpers fought the fire in the Mariposa and Madera Counties, around 30 kilometers from Yosemite National Park.

For an as yet unknown cause, the fire broke out on Sunday when extreme summer temperatures of 42 degrees Celsius were measured in the region.

For days, people in California and other western US states have been suffering from a heat wave.

Persistent drought increases the risk of fire.

In California alone, authorities listed a dozen major fires on Monday.

Yosemite Park had to close in the fall of 2020

In September 2020, Yosemite National Park had to close to visitors for a week because of thick smoke over the region. The Yosemite Valley in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, known for its waterfalls and huge granite rocks, attracts many millions of visitors every year.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, nearly 60 forest fires in the United States have eaten through bone-dry wood and scrub from Alaska to Wyoming. Arizona, Idaho, and Montana were responsible for more than half of the major active fires. In Canada there are again significantly more: In the past two days alone, 50 more fires broke out, according to authorities, a total of around 300 fires are currently raging in the region. Train connections have also been discontinued for fire safety reasons: trains are a frequent cause of forest fires due to uncontrolled flying sparks due to poor maintenance.

The fires broke out after the area was hit by dangerously high temperatures for the second time in a few weeks.

A drought, which scientists attribute to climate change, also helps make the fires even more dangerous.

The largest fire in the USA, the so-called »Bootleg Fire«, raged in the southwest of the US state of Oregon, not far from the border with California.

It had doubled over the weekend and, according to the fire department, threatened around 2,000 houses.

At least seven houses and more than 40 other buildings burned down.

The National Weather Service recently assumed that the heat wave has now reached its peak in many areas.

The excessive heat warnings should largely expire on Tuesday.

apr / dpa / AP