Janice R. Andrews
CA’s Mariposa County The Fourth of July brought intense heatwaves that fuelled wildfires in California, resulting in extensive damage and forcing many people to evacuate. A massive, uncontrolled fire near Yosemite National Park confirmed meteorologists’ warnings of dangerously high temperatures over the holiday weekend.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reports that as of Friday morning, the French Fire, which broke out in Mariposa County on Thursday, had burnt 791 acres and was 0% contained. Due to the fire, almost the whole town of Mariposa is under mandatory evacuation, and a sizable area to the east is under alert.
A lady named Regina Lewis posted a video of the fire consuming the mountain above the Mariposa High School on Facebook. The video showed the flames spreading to a mostly residential street. Social media users shared dramatic footage of the sky showing large plumes of smoke and vivid orange flames. A jet releasing fire retardant over a forest close to Mariposa was seen in another video.
In Mariposa County, the heat wave has caused almost 3,500 electricity consumers to lose power. Meanwhile, Butte County is still being devastated by the much larger Thompson Fire in Northern California, which is currently just 29% contained and has burned about 1,800 acres. About 65 miles north of Sacramento, near Oroville, this fire broke out on Tuesday and forced at least 28,000 residents to flee. Following the downgrading of the evacuation orders, some residents have started to return home.
A large number of Fourth of July activities in California were canceled due to temperatures that above 100 degrees. It was one of the warmest holiday weekends ever recorded, with some locations experiencing temperatures as high as 110 degrees, which exacerbated fire conditions.
As firefighters continue to fight these fires in spite of the intense heat, stay tuned for updates.
