The fire in California had spread "explosively", local authorities said on Saturday. Accordingly, it broke out on Friday and spread to around 4800 hectares of land. The massive forest fire threatens Yosemite National Park with its well-known giant sequoias.
The "Oak Fire" in California is raging primarily in the Mariposa district east of San Francisco and has already destroyed ten houses and damaged five others. Thousands more could fall victim to the flames. The fire activity is still "extreme", it said. More than 6,000 people were evacuated, according to a spokesman for the California Fire Department. Almost 2700 houses are threatened by the fire.
Almost 2,100 firefighters fought the flames with 225 fire engines and 17 helicopters. Extreme drought, strong winds and high temperatures had led to rapid spread. Footage showed a building on fire and trees blazing with smoke surrounded by thick clouds of smoke.
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the fire was not contained as of Saturday. The "Los Angeles Times" reported, citing officials, that this could take another week.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a "state of emergency" in Mariposa County on Saturday. Eyewitnesses posted online photos of a huge whirl of thick smoke rising like a tornado over the forest. This dangerous phenomenon, a pyrocumulus or fire cloud, can further fuel the fire.
A man told CNN that his parents' house had burned down in the fire. They had lived in their home in Mariposa for 37 years. "It's quite sad to see that the house I grew up in is gone," he said. "That hits you hard."
Suffering from a prolonged drought, the western United States has seen wildfires of exceptional magnitude and intensity in recent years. At the same time, the fire season is getting longer and longer. The fire brigades fear particularly severe forest fires this year.
Other parts of the country also experienced an extreme heatwave over the weekend, which could peak on Sunday. The National Weather Service warned of "extremely oppressive" temperatures in the east, among other places. Temperatures of over 38 degrees were predicted for Sunday in the capital Washington.
In New York, the thermometer rose to around 35 degrees on Saturday. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu declared a “heat-related emergency” due to the high temperatures, which, among other things, allows swimming pools to be open longer.
In July, people in Western Europe had also groaned under the high temperatures, in March and April extreme heat had spread in India. According to scientists, the global accumulation of heat waves is the result of the climate crisis.
