Wunderground.com - 8-29-13, Brian Skoloff and Scott Sonner
GROVELAND, Calif. -- As crews advanced against a giant wildfire around Yosemite National Park, fire commanders said they would maintain use of a Predator drone to give them early views of any new flare-ups across in the remote and rugged landscape.
The Rim Fire started Aug. 17 and quickly exploded in size, becoming one of the 10 largest California wildfires on record. Its progression slowed earlier this week when it moved from parts of the forest with thick underbrush that had not burned in nearly a century to areas that had seen fire in the past two decades.
But it will burn for months, possibly until California's dry season ends this fall.
"My prediction is it will burn until we see rain," said Hugh Safford, a regional ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service.
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GLENDORA, Calif. -- The large Colby fire, burning in the foothill suburbs northeast of Los Angeles, was largely tamed by firefighters Friday morning, but it was a reminder of a major threat that remains across California – in a drought as severe as the current one, bone-dry land and heat will inevitably lead to more wildfires. By nightfall Thursday, the wildfire that swept through about 2 1/2 square miles of brush in the San Gabriel Mountains and destroyed five homes early in the day had its progress halted and was 30 percent contained.
