As wildfires get wilder, the costs of fighting them are untamed (click here)
By Bettina Boxall and Julie Cart : times staff writers, First of five parts
July 27, 2008
LIVE OAK COMMAND POST -- It was day 42 of the zaca fire. A tower of white smoke reached miles into the blue sky above the undulating ridges of Santa Barbara's backcountry.
Helicopters ferried firefighters across the saw-toothed terrain and bombed fiery ridges with water. Long plumes of red retardant trailed from the belly of a DC-10 air tanker. Bulldozers cut defensive lines through pygmy forests of chaparral....
This is a close up of the similiar picture below. These are our national forests that are burning by the way. (click here)
Large Incident Fires (click here)
This image provided by NASA taken Tuesday July 22, 2008 shows smoke engulfing the northern Sacramento Valley in California. Northern California, steep terrain and a lack of roads hindered efforts to get the last of California's wildfires under control. Thick smoke from the fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Junction City grounded firefighting aircraft. The fire covered 98 square miles and was 61 percent contained. (AP Photo.NASA)
Fire threatens Yosemite area
A growing fire about 30 miles west of Yosemite Valley triggered the evacuations of 170 homes Saturday, and more are threatened, fire officials said.
Because of the fire, authorities cut the power grid to Yosemite National Park, and it had not been restored by Saturday evening.
Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the Telegraph fire grew from about 1,000 acres to around 16,000 acres, or 25 square miles, during the day Saturday.
Fires this time of year "are extremely active," Berlant said. "The erratic behavior is because there is so much fuel out there to burn."
About 900 firefighters are battling the blaze on both sides of a steep canyon along the Merced River.
Karen Guillemin, a department spokeswoman, said most of the evacuated homes are in Midpines but that residents of other small towns are being asked to prepare to leave. In all, about 2,000 homes are threatened, officials said.
Midpines is on California 140, the thoroughfare that leads to the west entrance of Yosemite National Park. Campers on nearby Bureau of Land Management land were evacuated as a precaution.
From the Associated Press
