Wildfires threaten Yosemite National Park, other western communities

Autumn may be in the air, but the summer fire season continues to threaten communities and natural resources across the West. A 300-acre wildfire just outside Yosemite National Park in California, discovered on Friday, prompted authorities to order the evacuation of about 700 homes and the closure of some roads in the area. By midday Saturday, the fire was 25 percent contained. Farther north in bone-dry California, the Happy Camp complex of fires west of Yreka, which began nearly four weeks ago with a lightning strike, is reaching “megafire” status, or 100,000 acres. As of Saturday morning, the fire had burned 88,546 acres, or about 138 square miles, according to the Forest Service. Containment cost has been estimated at $51.5 million, and the blaze is 25 percent contained. A fairground is providing shelter for residents and large animals. Eighty-four fire crews totaling nearly 3,000 people, plus 16 helicopters, 22 bulldozers and other equipment are battling the blaze. In the Klamath National Forest, the July complex of fires has burned more than 40,000 acres. Farther north, a brush fire on Friday night in Corvallis, Ore., forced the evacuation of more than 200 homes. For the second straight year, Oregon has tapped into its insurance coverage to help cover the growing cost of firefighting, the Bulletin newspaper in Bend reported. This year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, 38,451 wildfires have torched 2,772,014 acres.  Source