A deadly wildfire which started on Monday is now growing more than doubled in size and raged through more than 14 square miles of brush and forest, burning on the western edge of Yosemite National Park.
Yosemite National Park is expected to grow worse in the coming days as firefighters go up against blaze-fueling weather conditions.
The Ferguson Fire that broke out Friday scorched nearly 7 square miles of dry brush along steep, remote hillsides on the park’s western edge which was burning largely out of control, and officials shut off electricity to many areas, including Yosemite Valley.
By Tuesday nearly 1,500 personnel had been dispatched to deal with the fire, which Cal Fire says is spreading south and east toward the residences in Jerseydale, Mariposa Pines, Clearing House, and Incline, threatening over 100 homes.
“You can’t see anything, it’s so smoky outside. It’s crazy,” said front desk clerk Spencer Arebalo, one of a handful of employees who stayed behind at the popular hotel inside the park.
“Due to the steep, rugged terrain, the volatility of the vegetation, the hazard trees, the mortality, firefighters are just simply not able to fight this fire directly,” U.S. Forest Service fire behavior analyst Taro Pusina explained in an update Monday morning.
“It’s too dangerous. So they’re looking at indirect fire attack methods where they’re using roads out in front of it with anticipation of burning those out to secure your communities”, he added.
A procession in Varney’s memory was set for Monday afternoon as his body was removed from the site and taken to the local coroner’s office.
“The biggest overall risk is that these dead trees have an increased risk of falling, themselves and their limbs falling on firefighters,” said Heather Williams, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman.
> Shatabdi Sarker Poushi
