Courtney Fire rages near Yosemite National Park

[yuiyoshida]

(09-15) 09:09 PDT OAKHURST, MADERA COUNTY -- More than 1,000 people were forced to flee when a wildfire tore though a community south of Yosemite National Park and destroyed 21 structures, including a number of homes, authorities said Monday.

The Courtney Fire near Oakhurst (Madera County) was one of 11 major wildfires burning across a drought-stricken California, with nearly 6,000 firefighters joining the battle.

The Courtney Fire, 14 miles from Yosemite, started around 1:30 p.m. Sunday and quickly spread east toward Bass Lake, forcing people in 400 homes to evacuate, said officials with the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The blaze grew to 320 acres and was 20 percent contained as of Monday morning. Four hundred firefighters were battling the flames in steep terrain in the northern part of Oakhurst near the community of Bass Lake Heights.

Authorities did not specify how many of the 21 structures destroyed were homes, but the Fresno Bee said the flames consumed several houses in one neighborhood.



http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Fire-rages-in-town-near-Yosemite-National-Park-5756355.php#photo-6867877

[dhill926]

1. gonna be a rough next couple of days….