A wildfire that has threatened some of the world’s oldest Sequoia trees in California’s Yosemite National Park has spread five times over the weekend, sending smoke alarms into the park and hiding the famous landscape.
Yesterday, a fire engulfed about 1,600 acres of wood and brush on 250 acres[250 ha]at the southern end of the park, a day after it was first heard by visitors to Giant Sekoas Mariposa Grove Mariposa Grove Washington. .
National Park Service staff immediately closed the Mariposa Grove, home to more than 500 mature Sequoia giants, and evacuated the community near Waona and the Waona Hotel and Camp on Friday.
An estimated 1,600 people were displaced during the summer tourist season, said Park Service spokeswoman Nancy Philipp. The park has closed the southern entrance to the park, which attracts about 4 million visitors a year, she said.
The park’s most famous attractions, including the Yosemite Valley, remain accessible from the west entrance. But smoke and soot obscured landscapes such as El Capitan and the half-glazed granite, as well as the bridal curtain fall and the surrounding rocks.
Federal wildfires have warned that air quality is deteriorating in most parts of the park.
The flames are so intense, the heat is uncontrollable, and none of the more famous 3,000-year-old Yosemite celebrities have survived, says Philippi.
Firefighters were taking special measures to protect the bush, clearing out any potential growths on the fuel bed and setting up ground-based spraying systems to increase the amount of moisture around them.
“We are confident in our plans today,” said Philip.
The cause of the fire is being investigated and no injuries have been reported, officials said.
However, the air strike, which operates as a control tower in the sky, led by firefighting planes and helicopters, reported that the whirlwind was about to be hit by the wreckage of flying trees. Smoke column, fire spokesman Stanley Berkovitz, said.
The world’s largest trees, covered with bulk and thick and spongy bark, have been part of the natural balance of healthy red wood forests for thousands of years.
Even fire is very important for the trees to reproduce, the cones need a lot of heat to open up and release seeds.
However, experts say that drought-stricken Sekoya is increasingly vulnerable to repeated wildfires caused by climate change.
Thousands of trees have been destroyed in six major wildfires in Sierra Nevada over the past six years, burning 85% of all major Sequoia groups between 2015 and 2021, compared to just a quarter of a century ago, according to Park. Service.
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Meanwhile, the Texas Electricity Reliance Council (ERCOT), which manages the Texas Electricity Grid, warned of a power outage today.
“If there is no market solution, there is a lack of backup capacity,” ERCOT said in a statement posted on its website.
Temperatures are expected in most parts of the state today.
