Oak Fire

About 6,000 people have been ordered to evacuate because of a wildfire that's burning thousands of acres near Yosemite National Park and challenging the ...

On Friday, firefighters assumed command of the Washburn Fire, which began July 7, according to the incident management team. Firefighters are seeing “explosive fire behavior,” meaning the wildfire has developed tall plumes of smoke and water that stretch above the fire. Cal Fire spokesperson Natasha Fouts said 6,062 people had been evacuated from the area as of Saturday morning.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that California has secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) from the Federal Emergency ...

Cal OES Fire and Rescue and CAL FIRE personnel are working in concert with state, local and federal agencies in response to the rapidly-moving fire. SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that California has secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help ensure the availability of vital resources to suppress the Oak Fire burning in Mariposa County. Driven by hot, dry weather and drought conditions, the Oak Fire has burned 6,555 acres to date.The FMAG, which is provided through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund on a cost-share basis, will enable local, state and tribal agencies responding to the fire to apply for 75-percent reimbursement of their eligible fire suppression costs. The program, which is administered through the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), provides rapid financial assistance to communities impacted by fires.

WAWONA, Calif. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire near Yosemite National Park exploded in size Saturday and prompted evacuations even as firefighters made ...

A shoeless older man attempting the flee crashed his sedan into a ditch in a closed area and was helped by firefighters. As of Saturday morning, the fire had destroyed 10 residential and commercial structures and damaged five more, the Mercury News reported. “The fire is moving quickly.

The Maricopa County blaze remained at 0% containment as it ballooned into one of California's largest wildfires of the year.

Deputies received reports of people trapped in the evacuation zone either without vehicles or otherwise not able to leave, said Kristie Mitchell, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office. “This continues to be an intense & fast-moving fire, and is now burning into the wildland-urban interface, with some level of structure loss already.” Relative humidity was very low — about 7% to 8% — and temperatures hovered around 95 degrees. Some residents evacuating the Oak fire posted photos to Twitter of a pyrocumulus cloud ballooning into the atmosphere. Authorities are investigating what caused the blaze, which began in the area of Highway 140 and Carstens Road near Midpines. Beds with privacy screens were set up in the school cafeteria and three daily meals are being served, Poisall said.

The fast-growing Oak Fire burning in Mariposa County was sending smoke over over central...

It depends largely on the wildfire’s spread, which has so far been very fast, making it difficult to forecast smoke and air quality. It’s likely that smoke could settle into the valleys in eastern California and western Nevada by night, bringing some haze in the short-term While air quality in the Tahoe area is not currently affected by the fire, Young said, she noted that the situation could change depending on the behavior of the wind and the fire’s growth.

A fast-moving brush fire near Yosemite National Park exploded in size Saturday into one of California's largest wildfires of the year, prompting evacuation ...

A map of the areas under evacuation orders is available online. Pacific Gas & Electric said on its website that more than 2,600 homes and businesses in the area had lost power as of Friday afternoon and there was no indication when it would be restored. He was safely driven from the area and did not appear to suffer any injuries. The cause of the fire was under investigation. "The fire is moving quickly. California has experienced increasingly larger and deadlier wildfires in recent years as climate change has made the West much warmer and drier over the past 30 years.

It erupted as firefighters made progress against an earlier blaze that burned to the edge of a grove of giant sequoias in the southernmost part of Yosemite park ...

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On Saturday, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for Mariposa County due to the blaze and California secured a Fire Management Assistance ...

Firefighters said flames were spotting anywhere up to 2 miles ahead of the fire and torching groups of trees. On Saturday evening, the blaze was headed in the general direction of Fish Camp, to the southeast. The prognosis for fighting the flames Saturday and Sunday was mixed. The phenomenon occurs during large wildfires in extremely hot and dry conditions. Thick smoke filled the air near the blaze and reached Yosemite Valley but hadn’t yet traveled to Lake Tahoe or the Bay Area. Firefighters said Saturday morning that there was no concern the Oak Fire could merge with the Washburn Fire, a smaller blaze that broke out July 7 in the southern part of Yosemite National Park and displaced residents of the nearby town of Wawona.

MARIPOSA — The Oak Fire burning near Yosemite National Park in Mariposa County exploded on Saturday to become California's largest and fastest-moving ...

“The forecast means that the fire behavior will probably stay very active through at least early next week,” Castro said. Scott and Missy Kaufmann were among the thousands of residents in the area forced to evacuate their homes. Meanwhile, relative humidity levels are expected to hover between 10 and 15%, dipping into the single digits at some points, until at least Wednesday. And unfortunately, it doesn’t look like firefighters are expected to receive any reprieve in the coming days. What began as a small brush fire on Friday quickly turned into a raging inferno by Saturday evening, destroying at least 10 structures and forcing more than a third of Mariposa County’s residents to flee. The wildfire was threatening nearly 2,000 structures Saturday evening, some of which are artifacts of California’s historic Gold Rush days.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today proclaimed a state of emergency for Mariposa County due to the effects of the Oak Fire, which has destroyed homes, ...

CAL FIRE and Cal OES Fire and Rescue personnel are working with state, local and federal agencies in response to the fast-moving fire. Earlier today, the Governor announced that, within hours, California secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help ensure the availability of vital resources to suppress the fire. SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today proclaimed a state of emergency for Mariposa County due to the effects of the Oak Fire, which has destroyed homes, threatened critical infrastructure and forced the evacuation of more than three thousand residents.

Blaze exploded on Friday and quickly grew to 11900 acres in size as Gavin Newsom declares state of emergency for Yosemite area.

The Oak fire was already more than twice the size of the Washburn fire. On Saturday, the Oak fire sent up a pyrocumulus cloud so large it could be seen from space. This should be a moment for a global epiphany.” The fire blocked one of the main routes into Yosemite, where earlier this month a stand of massive and ancient giant sequoias was threatened by the Washburn wildfire. “We are fortunate enough hay the winds have remained the same,” he added, noting that gusts had slowed. There is a lot of fuel to be consumed out there.”

Fueled by extreme heat and tinder dry forests and underbrush, a wildfire just west of Yosemite National Park spread overnight, quickly turning into one of ...

The worst wildfire season on record in California was in 2020, in terms of total acreage burned, with more than 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares) and over 10,000 homes and other structures destroyed. The redwoods were threatened by another blaze earlier this month, but firefighters managed to save them. "Today the weather is expected to remain hot with minimum humidity between 5 and 10%, which will hamper firefighting efforts," a fire report posted early Sunday said.