19,000 acres destroyed: On the ground at California's largest wildfire | DW News

Fire crews are still working to contain the biggest blaze to hit the US state of California this year. The so-called Oak Fire, which had threatened the Yosemite National Park, has been partially contained, but is not yet fully under control. California has experienced increasingly larger wildfires in recent years as climate change has made the western part of the United States much warmer and drier.

The Oak Fire started Friday afternoon southwest of the park. By Saturday, it had grown to 10.2 square miles (26.5 square kilometers), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Evacuation orders were issued for over 6,000 people, Sierra National Forest spokesman Daniel Patterson said. More than 400 firefighters along with helicopters and bulldozers were working to put out the blaze, he said. By Saturday morning, the fire had destroyed 10 residential and commercial structures and damaged 5 others, according to Cal Fire. It was threatening 2,000 more structures and had prompted numerous road closures.

DW Correspondent Stefan Simons is on the ground in Mariposa County, where fire fighters are still hard at work.


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