A huge wildfire that has been raging for days has created a crisis for the famed California landmark Hearst Castle, located above San Simeon on the state’s Central Coast.
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So far, the wildfire had destroyed nearly fifty structures, including houses and other buildings.
And while firefighters in Southern California work around the clock to control the flames, scientists hundreds of miles away are waging a different sort of battle – the one to fully understand how these fires spread.
Finally, as stated by the Washington State Patrol, another fired charred numerous buildings, including ten homes, south of Spokane near the town of Spangle.
A third blaze was burning on the northeast side of the city.
More firefighters headed to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, where large, growing wildfires have closed or threaten key roads and forced the evacuation of a large campground during a busy stretch of the summer tourist season.
Fire spokeswoman Karen Miranda says prospects aren’t good for opening the road anytime soon because the fire is burning along the highway, which leads to the South Entrance of Yellowstone. The Cal Fire supervisor was treated on-site by paramedics and then airlifted to a nearby hospital for further treatment and evaluation.
The fire has burned about 42 square miles since it was ignited by lightning on August 8.
Authorities ordered evacuations in eastern Idaho where a wildfire burning rangeland and habitat of a threatened bird, the sage grouse, ballooned to 40 square miles.
Crews are expected to continue monitoring and patrolling for hot spots inside of the fire perimeter and perform fire line rehabilitation.
Hellstrom says no buildings are imminently threatened at the resort.
Some 317 firefighters are responding to the blaze, which grew by 4½ square miles Sunday to almost 11 square miles.
The wind-driven wildfire was just 35 percent contained and overnight it burned another 4,000 acres as it continued to march in a north and northeasterly direction, Brian Steiger, a a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told NBC News. Officials say the fire’s size was reduced from 80 square miles due to better mapping.
At 17,000 acres on Saturday afternoon with 35% containment, the fire was within 2 miles of Hearst Castle.
The Chimney fire measured more than 33,000 acres by Monday night. What’s more, winds out of the south and southwest were forecast to hit around 10 miles per hour Tuesday with gusts up to twice that speed.
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The Cause of the Fire is under investigation, however investigators need your help to determine the fire cause.
