A raging fire threatens the ancient redwoods of Yosemite National Park in California

The United States records extreme temperatures this weekend that keep at least 70 million people on alert, especially in the Midwestern states and the east coast of the country.

But like every summer, and more disproportionately in the last five years, California pays the highest price, with fires that break tragic records in voracity and extension.

Driven by extreme heat, drought and overgrown forests, a wildfire west of Yosemite National Park has raged early Sunday morning to become one of the biggest of the year.

Thousands of residents have had to be evacuated.

The fire, completely out of control early on Sunday (local time), threatened to destroy some 2,000 homes the day before, for which some 3,000 residents were evacuated to places set up as shelters.

At dawn on Sunday, there were already 6,000 who had received the eviction order.

The cause of the fire, which started on Friday and has burned an approximate area of ​​5,800 hectares, is unknown.

"Today the weather is expected to remain hot with minimal humidity, between 5% and 10%, which will make it difficult to extinguish the fire," the emergency service said early this Sunday morning.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County due to the fire.

The declaration allows the state to access federal money and resources to fight the flames.

The White House usually quickly approves disaster area declarations for natural disasters so that federal funds flow quickly to the states.

Yosemite, which is about an hour's drive from Mariposa County, is home to some of the largest (up to 250 feet tall) and oldest redwoods in the world.

These ancient trees were threatened by another fire at the beginning of July, which, while still active, has been 80% controlled.

This fire is less than 20 kilometers from the Yosemite fire and has so far affected some 2,000 hectares.

Yosemite was also engulfed in flames last year.

In the state of Idaho, two firefighters died after their helicopter crashed on Saturday while they were participating in the work of extinguishing a fire near the border with Montana.

In New York there was a fatality as a result of extreme heat, the Police Department reported.

Fires are given names in the United States, just like hurricanes or cyclones.

The two active this weekend, those in California and Idaho, are known as the

and

, respectively.

The one declared in early July was christened

.

Last year, California experienced its worst fire season in terms of total area burned, more than four million acres (1.6 million hectares).

The fire destroyed more than 10,000 homes and other residential and commercial buildings, and claimed the lives of 33 people.

In the set of western states of the country, the fire destroyed more than ten million acres.

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