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A wildfire that killed a California firefighter quickly developed and forced the closure of a key road into Yosemite National Park as crews fought with stifling conditions on Sunday. . 7 square miles (18 square kilometers) of dry scrub along the steep and remote slopes on the western edge of the park. The authorities cut electricity to many areas, including the Yosemite Valley, as a security measure.
Guests were ordered to leave Yosemite Cedar Lodge on Saturday as the flames rose and the air became thick. "You can not see anything, it's so much smoke on the outside, it's crazy," said receptionist Spencer Arebalo, one of the few employees who stayed at the hotel. popular hotel inside the park.
He stated that it was surreal to see the property empty at the height of the tourist season.
"We expect to be closed for at least one more day," Arebalo said.
Evacuations were also ordered in rural park communities, and people in nearby lodges and motels were told to be ready to leave if the flames approached. A stretch of 140 State Road in Yosemite has been closed, and motorists have been asked to find other routes.
Temperatures as high as 95 degrees Celsius and inaccessible terrain made it difficult for teams to fire. Captain Mike Seymour said:
Heavy equipment operator Braden Varney, 36, died Saturday morning on the line of fire, said the Department of Forestry and Wildlife. California fire protection. Varney was driving a bulldozer to create a breach in the vegetation to prevent the flames from spreading into a nearby community, according to Nancy Koerperich, fire chief of Cal.
Varney's body will probably not be found until Monday at the earliest. Cal Fire's deputy chief, Scott McLean, said, "The fire is one of the fires across the state and among the 56 large fires that are active in the United States, most in the American West, a region that suffers from drought and heat
A fire near the California-Oregon border that killed a 72-year-old resident and injured three firefighters was almost entirely contained after burning more than 60 square miles. square kilometers) of dry scrub
Crew members had total control of a tenacious fire that burned a 142 square kilometer brush surface and destroyed 20 structures in Yolo counties and Napa. Investigators said that an electrical fence for poorly installed livestock has triggered the flames.
In the fire near Yosemite, investigators were trying to find more details about Varney's death on Saturday, but they thought he was going out. Koerperich says, "This will definitely be devastating for her family and those of us who call her family with Cal Fire," she says.
Varney worked for Cal Fire for 10 years. . His father also worked as a heavy equipment operator at Cal Fire. He is survived by his wife, Jessica; daughter Malhea, 5 years old; and his son Nolan, 3.
Gov. Jerry Brown has ordered flags on the Capitol of California to be deployed half-length to honor "a man who has dedicated his life to the protection of his Californian compatriots."
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