In pics - Emergency declared as wildfire rages near Yosemite National Park
Wildfire near Yosemite
The wildfire has grown quite a bit in the past few days, and it is slowly making it way towards the Sierra national forest.
Evacuation order
The fire, which started on the south-west side of the national park, has caused a lot of damage in Mariposa County and after the evacuation order, around 6000 people had to be displaced.
Firefighters deployed
More than 400 firefighters were deployed in the area in order to control the situation along with helicopters and bulldozers with the fire getting worse due to dry vegetation around the area.
Major damage
The fire led to shutdown of Highway 140 between Carstens Road and Allred Road, blocking one of the main routes into Yosemite national park. It also ended up causing damage to 10 residential and commercial structures, damaging five others and threatening 2,000 more structures. (Text: AP)
Dire situation for locals
The fire started around July 7 and although Yosemite was closed in the first few days, it still posed a lot of problems for the vegetation around Mariposa Grove, the area with the world’s largest trees by volume.
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