National

3,500 structures at risk as wildfire rages near Yosemite National Park and temperatures soar

Firefighters near Yosemite National Park are racing to contain the deadly Ferguson Fire as hotter temperatures raise the danger for thousands of homes potentially in its path.

Six firefighters have been injured and one killed battling the 51-square-mile fire in rugged terrain near the national park’s west side.  Evacuation orders are in place for the small communities dotted through the area, and more residents are on evacuation alert.

Yosemite remains open, but one of its scenic routes, Glacier Point Road, was closed to the public  so firefighters could get through. Nearly 3,500 structures – homes, stores, vacation lodges and power lines – are listed as threatened. Temperatures are expected to hit nearly 100 degrees every day this week.

“Weather forecasts are calling for hotter and drier air throughout the week as conditions align for critical and extreme fire weather in the coming days,” fire managers said in an update early Monday. “The fire is 13 percent contained and one non-residential structure has been reported destroyed but dozens more have been saved because of the efforts of crews throughout the fire area.”

Firefighting airplanes and helicopters have been pounding the fire with retardant and water drops, and more than 3,000 firefighters were on the ground.

Experts say it’s possible the fire  could spread far enough north to reach the burn scar left by the 2013 Rim Fire, which scorched more than 400 square miles. The Rim Fire, one of California’s largest, burned into portions of the national park and left behind terrain that is now far less likely to burn intensely, which gives firefighters a better chance to control the flames.

The terrain now burning is so rugged it took firefighters several days to recover the body of firefighter Braden Varney, 36, a married father of two who was killed when his bulldozer rolled over July 14.