Sacramento: A state of emergency has been declared in various areas in California due to the wildfire that has not been controlled for three days. Efforts to contain the largest wildfire in the United States continue.
About 6,000 people were evacuated after a wildfire broke out Friday afternoon in the Mariposa County town of Midpines, near Yosemite National Park. 10 houses and commercial establishments were gutted. Five houses were partially destroyed. The fire has been contained to the Sierra National Forest.
Four aircraft, 45 units of firefighting vehicles and 400 personnel have been deployed in the area. Fire department spokeswoman Natasha Fouts said the wildfire will not be under control until next week. They also said that 12,000 acres were burnt.
The largest and oldest sequoia trees in the world were partially destroyed in the fire that started in the Wawona area of Yosemite Park on July 7. About a thousand local residents were evacuated and road traffic was stopped.
Wawona Road was reopened on Saturday. In California alone, it is estimated that 2.5 million acres were destroyed in nearly 9,000 fires last year.
