The number of firefighters now battling the Oak Fire near Yosemite has quadrupled in the last 24 hours from 403 to 2,093. Parched conditions and steep, rugged terrain are making for a challenging firefight.
The number of firefighters now battling the Oak Fire near Yosemite has quadrupled in the last 24 hours. With slightly more than 14,000 acres of burn, the Oak fire has ballooned in size and is consuming property as it rapidly spreads through parched, drought-stricken land. Flying embers are creating spot fires, contributing to the growth of the fire.
"Any spots that are flying if they do land into the fuels. Those fuels are so receptive and that's what's causing this fire to grow so, so rapidly and giving us such a hard fight," said Natasha Fouts, a Cal Fire Spokesperson."We often utilize bulldozers to put in lines and some of this terrain is just too steep to get dozers in there," said Fouts. "So we're having to use hand crews, which moves a little bit slower, so that's been a big challenge for us.
Cal Fire lists the number of structures threatened at more than 2,500, and as the fire grows, so does the number of people being forced out of their homes. Air quality, northeast of the fire has rapidly degraded to unhealthy in the area around Lake Tahoe and south. Computer models from the National Weather Service show smoke pushing toward the Bay Area into Monday, but a spokesperson with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said, even though they’ve issued an air quality advisory, the smoke isn’t expected to rise to unhealthy levels.
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