A dry, hot fire season

Flames leapt from trees as the Oak Fire crossed Darrah Rd. in Mariposa County, Calif. on July 22 (above). Officials in California said the fire burned about 29 square miles of forest land near Yosemite National Park by July 26 and was about 26 percent contained. Forty-two single residence structures and 19 outbuildings burned down as more than 3,000 firefighters battled the fire. Officials closed numerous roads, including a stretch of State Route 140 that serves as one of the main routes into Yosemite, and placed more than 6,000 residents under evacuation orders. Another blaze in California, the Washburn Fire, covered a 7.6 square mile area that included part of the Sierra National Forest. That fire had threatened Mariposa Grove, home to some of the world’s oldest sequoias. It later moved away from the grove and was 91 percent contained on July 26. Meanwhile, in north Texas, officials said the Chalk Mountain Fire near Glen Rose destroyed 16 homes and was 20 percent contained.