California Wildfire Continues To Burn Six Weeks After It Started


The California wildfire, touted to be one of the biggest in recent years, continues to spread six weeks after it first started.

According to the Guardian, the wildfire started off in the last week of July (July 31, to be precise) after a lightning strike and continues to burn to this day, destroying nearly 172 square miles of forest and property in the process. Thousands of people were evacuated even as the wildfire spread, destroying property worth millions of dollars.

In the latest casualty, several big cats housed at Cat Haven, a park in Fresno County, are being evacuated from the area as the fire threatens to consume the park. The park, nearly 100 acres in size, is in the direct line of the latest California wildfire and is located close to King’s Canyon National Park. Home to over three dozen wild cats of various sizes and shapes, the park also has several lions, tigers and other large cats. Park officials have started the process of evacuating some animals from the park. As expected, the park is not accepting any visitors and has been closed temporarily. The cats will be moved to a temporary facility near Los Angeles. Some of the animals are also likely to be moved to a facility in Fresno.

Meanwhile, according to a KFSN report, several communities in the area are under the threat of the wildfire, and evacuation warnings have been issued. These include the foothill communities of Dunlap, Miramonte, and Pinehurst are under evacuation warnings.

The wildfire has recently destroyed six homes in Amador County. Two outbuildings in the same county were also destroyed. However, firefighters have managed to contain the fire in the area. But they were unable to prevent it from reaching the nearby Calaveras County. The wildfire has also resulted in the destruction of several facilities and power lines, leaving an estimated 12,000 people without power. Authorities expect to restore the power by Thursday night.

Areas adjacent to Yosemite National Park have also been affected by the 2015 California Wildfire. A firefighter from Tuolumne was injured in the battle against the wildfire. A home was also destroyed in Cedar Ridge when two separate wildfires combined. Several educational camps and homes were also evacuated as the wildfire kept on spreading fast.

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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