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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/24/california-wildfire-yosemite-closed-ferguson-fire
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| California wildfires partially shut down Yosemite at peak of tourist season | California wildfires partially shut down Yosemite at peak of tourist season |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| Yosemite national park has been partially closed as wildfires continue to sweep across California this week. Fueled by dry conditions and high temperatures, smoke has settled over the popular tourist destination, causing unsafe conditions for visitors and workers, prompting officials to issue a temporary closure and evacuate the remaining tourists beginning Wednesday at noon. | Yosemite national park has been partially closed as wildfires continue to sweep across California this week. Fueled by dry conditions and high temperatures, smoke has settled over the popular tourist destination, causing unsafe conditions for visitors and workers, prompting officials to issue a temporary closure and evacuate the remaining tourists beginning Wednesday at noon. |
| National Park Service representatives announced at a public meeting Tuesday that the iconic Yosemite valley, as well as the Wawona area, would be closed temporarily until air quality conditions improve. | National Park Service representatives announced at a public meeting Tuesday that the iconic Yosemite valley, as well as the Wawona area, would be closed temporarily until air quality conditions improve. |
| Working against steep, difficult terrain and unrelenting heat that reaches into triple digits during the day, fire crews have been battling the Ferguson fire – one of 50 currently burning in the US – for the past 12 days. The blaze has scorched more than 36,500 acres is still only 25% contained. | Working against steep, difficult terrain and unrelenting heat that reaches into triple digits during the day, fire crews have been battling the Ferguson fire – one of 50 currently burning in the US – for the past 12 days. The blaze has scorched more than 36,500 acres is still only 25% contained. |
| The park has remained mostly open throughout the past week, despite warnings from local public health officials. Complicated by high temperatures, air quality measurements have been in “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” ranges through the past several days. | The park has remained mostly open throughout the past week, despite warnings from local public health officials. Complicated by high temperatures, air quality measurements have been in “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” ranges through the past several days. |
| “We see these inversion layers that are created because of the weather, that just keep the smoke trapped down toward the ground,” Ginnie Day, a representative from the Mariposa county public health department, told the Guardian. “Our air pollution control deputy is pretty busy right now, but he’s said he’s never seen numbers this high – and he’s been doing this for 30 years.” | “We see these inversion layers that are created because of the weather, that just keep the smoke trapped down toward the ground,” Ginnie Day, a representative from the Mariposa county public health department, told the Guardian. “Our air pollution control deputy is pretty busy right now, but he’s said he’s never seen numbers this high – and he’s been doing this for 30 years.” |
| Late summer is peak tourist season in the park, and it is typically swarmed by tourists. In previous years July has averaged close to 600,000 visitors. | Late summer is peak tourist season in the park, and it is typically swarmed by tourists. In previous years July has averaged close to 600,000 visitors. |
| “It’s unfortunate,” Day added, “because this is summer and for our town it does impact the businesses that depend on the tourism that is created by the beautiful Yosemite national park nearby us.” | “It’s unfortunate,” Day added, “because this is summer and for our town it does impact the businesses that depend on the tourism that is created by the beautiful Yosemite national park nearby us.” |
| This is partially why, according to park representatives, the decision to close popular areas of the park weren’t made sooner. | This is partially why, according to park representatives, the decision to close popular areas of the park weren’t made sooner. |
| “We’ve got literally thousands of visitors here every day and people coming from all over the world. So, we try to look at a lot of different factors [before closing the park]. The air quality is certainly a factor and it’s actually gotten worse the past few days.” | “We’ve got literally thousands of visitors here every day and people coming from all over the world. So, we try to look at a lot of different factors [before closing the park]. The air quality is certainly a factor and it’s actually gotten worse the past few days.” |
| He added that, though the fire hasn’t reached the park yet, officials wanted to ensure firefighters had access to the area for defensive operations as the battle the flames. For those still in the area, Scott Gediman, a park service spokesman, said cooling centers are being set up where people can breathe clean air and that public health officials were available to aid workers. | |
| Officials are expecting the closures to remain in effect until Sunday evening. “Conditions are changing and we felt that based upon the predictions for air quality and the weather in the next few days, we felt safe in saying these closures will be in effect until Sunday,” Gediman said. “But we want people to know these are temporary ...people come from all over the world to visit Yosemite and so we certainly want to accommodate visitors the best we can, but the health and safety of park visitors, park employees and fire fighters is our main concern.” | Officials are expecting the closures to remain in effect until Sunday evening. “Conditions are changing and we felt that based upon the predictions for air quality and the weather in the next few days, we felt safe in saying these closures will be in effect until Sunday,” Gediman said. “But we want people to know these are temporary ...people come from all over the world to visit Yosemite and so we certainly want to accommodate visitors the best we can, but the health and safety of park visitors, park employees and fire fighters is our main concern.” |
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| Natural disasters and extreme weather | Natural disasters and extreme weather |
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