Local News

MIDPINES, Mariposa County (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP) ― An out-of-control wildfire burning Sunday near the west entrance to Yosemite National Park had destroyed eight homes and was threatening thousands more as flames forced authorities to cut power to the park.

Mariposa County

The Telegraph Fire had charred more than 18,000 acres, or about 25 square miles, since it broke out on Friday when wooded slopes ignited amid hot, dry conditions that have plagued California for months. The fire was completely uncontained Sunday.

"There's no fire history in the past 100 hundred years. That's one of the reasons this fire's been able to burn so erratically," said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, on Sunday.

The wildfire led officials to order the evacuations of 170 homes under immediate threat. About 2,000 homes faced at least some danger from the fast-spreading flames, according to fire officials. Some campgrounds outside the park also were evacuated. No injuries were reported.

Most of the evacuated homes were in the town of Midpines, located along Highway 140, about 12 miles from the park. But Berlant said the southern edge of the blaze was as little as two miles from Mariposa, a town of about 1,800 residents.

The highway, which leads to one of two entrances on the west side of Yosemite National Park, remained open Sunday, according to the California Department of Transportation. But park officials said visitors traveling that route could face delays caused by firefighters transporting equipment along the roadway.

Flames towered as high as 100 feet on Saturday but had scaled back Sunday as temperatures cooled and winds calmed, Berlant said. Though the fire continued to expand, its spread was slowed with the improved weather, he said.

Temperatures were over 100 degrees and there was low humidity on Saturday. The National Weather Service said Sunday afternoon conditions were sunny with temperatures in the high 90s. 

About 2,000 firefighters were battling the fire and hundreds more were headed to the scene along the Merced River west of Yosemite, one of the nation's most visited national parks.

Berlant said that crews from the Bay Area were among those responding.

"There are hundreds of firefighters on the line and hundreds more are coming as fires caused by lightning in northern California are easing we are able to release them," he said.

An extremely dry wilderness area filled with a lot of brush and other tinder-dry fuel made the fire extremely dangerous to fight, authorities indicated.

"Dozers are trying to push dirt as fast as they can to get safety zones for our firefighters that are out there," State fire spokeswoman Karen Guillemin said. "Crews are cutting brush as fast as they can but it's an extremely dangerous situation at this point."

The California National Guard planned sent two Blackhawk helicopters on Sunday to add to the firefighting effort, guard Capt. Al Bosco said.

The helicopters were equipped with 660-gallon water buckets and can carry firefighters and equipment to the fires, he said.

The Blackhawk aircrews were from the Louisiana National Guard and were sent to California to help extinguish the more than 2,000 fires sparked by a massive lightening storm on June 21.

A California-based Fire Hawk helicopter with a 1,000-gallon water tank was also scheduled to join crews at the Telegraph fire, Bosco says.

Billowing smoke from the wildfire had cast a noticeable haze over much of the park, including the famed Yosemite Valley, said park spokeswoman Julie Chavez.

To protect firefighters battling flames beneath power lines, electricity was cut to a wide area, including the national park, according to fire officials. Some park buildings were closed because of the power outage, but generators were still providing hotels, stores and other heavily used park facilities with electricity, Chavez said.

The park will likely remain without an outside source of power for several days until crews can repair a transmission line brought down by the fire after power was cut, said James Guidi, a spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric. Technicians will not be able to fix the power line until authorities determine the area is safe, Guidi said.

Guillemin said the cause of the fire was "definitely target shooting," but she would not elaborate.

Shasta, Trinity Counties

Elsewhere, the Eagle Fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest had burned more than 21,000 acres and was 68 percent contained as of Sunday.

Officials said they were investigating the death of a firefighter from Washington state who died when a tree fell on him during his crew's first day of firefighting in the forest.

Andrew Palmer, 18, based at the Olympic National Park in Port Angeles, Wash., was part of a four-member park engine crew that was dispatched to the fire in Shasta-Trinity, about 50 miles east of Redding.

"We mourn Andy's death and offer our support and deepest condolences to his family," park Superintendent Karen Gustin said.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)