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| Firefighters from coastal Monterey, California watch as the Rim Fire burns out of control |
by: Lou Angeli
GROVELAND, CA (August 25, 2013) – The fast moving Rim Fire
on the northern border of Yosemite National Park grew by an additional 7 square
miles overnight as more and more firefighters from throughout the western
states arrive to flight the blaze.
The fire, one of the biggest in California history, now
covers 210 square miles and is just 7 percent contained. Officials fear that
the blaze will spread even faster as strong south winds, expected to be as high
as 30 mph, arrive later today.
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| Current Map shows Yosemite Nat'l Park to the east. |
"The wind could push it further up north and
northeast into Yosemite and closer to those communities and that is a big
concern for us," said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF).
Yosemite National Park officials are taking no chances as
they cleared brush and set sprinklers to protect two groves of giant sequoias.
About three dozen of the giant trees are affected.
"All of the plants and trees in Yosemite are
important, but the giant sequoias are incredibly important both for what they
are and as symbols of the National Park System," said spokesman Scott
Gediman.
Despite the efforts of 2,672 firefighters, backed by
planes and helicopters, the raging fire is threatening water supplies and
electrical generating plants, which supply the city of San Francisco. In anticipation
of failures, Governor Jerry Brown yesterday ordered a state of emergency for
San Francisco and other communities in the bay area.
InciWeb reported that the Rim Fire will continue to
exhibit large fire growth due to extremely dry fuels and inaccessible terrain.
The report continued; rapid fire growth and extreme fire behavior are hampering
suppression efforts.
Additional aerial resources such as high volume MAFFs and
VLAT DC-10 air tankers making drops in advance of the fires spread toward the
Highway 108 corridor.
