Amid an extreme heat wave, a massive forest fire destroyed homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of people in the Yosemite Park region of California, in the United States. The flames had not been brought under control until Sunday night (24).
The fire, considered one of the biggest of the year in the US, started on Friday (22) and spread quickly, destroying at least 6,300 hectares. More than 2,000 firefighters are fighting the blaze, and 17 helicopters are used in the operation, according to the California Forest Protection Service.
Authorities say the fire is raging unchecked because the heat and low humidity make it difficult for firefighters to work. The fire, described as “explosive”, left homes and vehicles destroyed and forced the evacuation of at least 6,000 people from the region.
Firefighters were most successful in containing the fire on the west side of the blaze, but the flames are moving east toward the Mariposa Pines region, said Justin Macomb, head of the California Forest Protection Service. “The fire flanked us quickly. We couldn’t even attack it with the resources we had at hand,” he said. “In my career, I haven’t seen fiery behavior like this.”
State Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Mariposa County due to “extremely hazardous conditions for the safety of persons and property”.
Yosemite National Park, about an hour’s drive from Mariposa County, is home to some of the largest and oldest redwoods in the world. The trees were threatened by another wildfire earlier this month, but firefighters managed to save them.
At the same time, millions of Americans face severe heat. Washington had this Sunday the maximum temperature of 37ºC – on Saturday (23), the thermometers marked 38ºC. New York recorded 36ºC. Temperatures above 37C could also be reached in the coming days in parts of eastern Kansas and Oklahoma, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
“Persistent heat in the south-central US will last a few more days, and a dangerous heat wave will build up in the northwest of the country this week,” the NWS announced in a statement.
“Mother Nature has already declared a global emergency,” former vice president Al Gore, an activist against the climate crisis, told the American channel ABC News. He also said that the crisis demands more political action. Last week, US President Joe Biden repeated his pledge to do everything to fight the climate emergency. The president’s official announcement, however, was only one-off measures, not a national emergency declaration on the subject, as had been speculated.
