IT WAS raining fire and brimstone at Yosemite National Park, California. This long-exposure photograph taken in July on the park's western border offers an ethereal, otherworldly view of the massive El Portal forest fire. Named after the gateway to the park, the fire, now under control, at one stage covered around 14 square kilometres and cut off several access points to the park. Summer is always fire season in the western states, but this year the battle against the blaze was exacerbated by three years of drought and the hottest summer on record.
Between 14 and 24 July, the National Park Service reported more than 3000 lightning strikes and so far this year, fire crews have had to fight more than 30,000 minor fires across several states, in an area of over 4000 square kilometres.
Californian firefighters are highly experienced, but this firestorm is like nothing they have seen. Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told The Washington Post , "The vegetation is so dry, it's generating so much heat that it's creating extraordinary conditions."
Fire plays an important part in the sequoia ecosystem, helping the giant trees grow and disperse, but sometimes it's too hot even for them. The temperatures generated by some of this year's fires have been so high that sand on river banks reportedly turned to glass.
This article appeared in print under the headline "California burning"
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