Wildfire burns 21 buildings near Yosemite

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 15 (UPI) —

A small but destructive fire near Yosemite National Park burned at least 21 buildings while other wildfires continue to rage around California.

The Courtney Fire was reported Sunday afternoon. By evening, it spread to more than 300 acres and forced about 1,000 people in Bass Lake Heights, southwest of the park, to evacuate in an area where eight houses were destroyed in an August fire.

"This is gut-wrenching," Chris Christopherson, a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told the Fresno Bee. "It makes you sick."

Cal Fire said the blaze was about 20 percent contained.

California has had hundreds of fires this year, with the Yosemite area especially hard hit. Inside the park, the Meadow Fire spread has charred almost 5,000 acres. The fire, started by lightning weeks ago at a high elevation remote from the heavily traveled areas in Yosemite, had been allowed to burn itself out, until it exploded in size, and is now only 50 percent contained.

Residents of the Pollock Pines area east of Sacramento in El Dorado County have also been forced to evacuate by the King fire. The U.S. Forest Service said Sunday the fire had burned about 3,000 acres along the American River.

In Alta Sierra, the Dog Bar fire, which started Saturday 50 miles northeast of Sacramento, destroyed two houses. The fire was reported to be 30 percent contained Sunday after spreading across 155 acres.

The Black Fire north of Lake Mendocino was 50 percent contained and had spread across more than 400 acres Sunday.

In a remote area near the Oregon border, the Happy Camp Complex was only 55 percent contained after burning more than 100,000 acres. The fire is the largest active one in the state.

In Orange County, the Silverado fire in Cleveland National Forest was about 50 percent contained after burning close to 1,000 acres.