The wildfire burning in and around Yosemite National Park has become the fourth-largest conflagration in California history.
CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant said Sunday that the 2-week-old Rim Fire claimed the spot as it grew to 348 square miles Saturday.
A 1932 blaze that scorched 344 square miles in Ventura County previously stood as the state’s fourth-largest wildfire.
A 427-square-mile fire in San Diego County that killed 14 people a decade ago tops the list.
Although the current wildfire still is growing, fire officials say it was 40 percent contained as of Sunday, up from 35 percent a day earlier.
For the first time since a wildfire broke out around Yosemite National Park, dense smoke has begun to obscure the region’s majestic mountain views, park officials say.
The smoke from the two-week-old fire that shrouded parts of Yosemite Valley Saturday also hampered firefighting efforts.
“I’m in Yosemite Valley right now, and I cannot see the cliffs around me,” spokeswoman Kari Cobb said. “The wind has shifted and smoke is impacting the entire park. We have been lucky until now.”
Meanwhile, firefighting aircraft were grounded most of the morning because of low visibility caused by the smoke, US Forest Service spokesman Mark Healey said.
The blaze had scorched 348 square miles of brush, oaks and pines and 11 homes, as of Saturday, an area larger than the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose combined.
The cause of the fire, which started August 17 and has claimed the most acreage in the Stanislaus National Forest, is under investigation. San Jose Mercury News
AHT/DB
Republished from: Press TV