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“I can’t emphasize enough how active and erratic this fire activity is. It’s done stuff that we haven’t seen before.” -Mariposa County Sheriff Doug Binnewies

The wildfire that has been blazing across rugged terrain around Yosemite doubled in size overnight, forcing thousands to evacuate and threatens 1,500 homes. As of early Wednesday the fire was 7% contained.  USA TODAY reportsYosemite has remained open, but some access roads were closed and the fire caused smoky conditions.

The fire that has been dubbed the “Detwiler Fire” has burned at least 70 square miles since Sunday, leaving 8 burned buildings and a damaged power, water, and communication infrastructure in its path of destruction.

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) spokesman Isaac Sanchez had this to say about the situation:

“Any time you have a fire like this and you have a community like this, it’s going to be considered threatened. When you add the fact that there are foothills, when you add in the slopes and the grades and the temperatures we are dealing with, the humidities we are dealing with, it’s a full-on challenge.”

We will be sure update as details come in. Our thoughts and prayers with all the brave firefighters out there trying to control the blaze. For a full incident report please visit CAL FIRE’s website HERE. 

[images from twitter.com/YosemiteNPS]

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