California’s fast-moving Oak Fire burns nearly 12,000 acres and forces evacuations outside Yosemite National Park

The fire, which was 0% contained as of Saturday evening, started Friday near the small community of Midpines in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, about 9 miles northeast of the county seat, the city of Mariposa, state fire officials said. said.

Flames tore through trees and sent thick smoke into the sky, and burned near homes and parked vehicles in at least one rural area, CNN affiliate video showed. KFSN And KGO showed.

“(Officers) came and … told us everybody had to go,” Mariposa Pines resident Wes Detamore said. told KFSN Friday.

Cal Fire said 11 fire brigades with more than 400 personnel, as well as 45 fire engines and four helicopters were deployed to douse the blaze.

Cal Fire said a Red Cross evacuation center has been set up at an elementary school in Mariposa.

Couples left with ‘only the clothes on their backs’

Nick Smith told CNN his parents’ home was destroyed by the fire. His parents, Jane and Wes Smith, lived in their Mariposa home for 37 years.

“It’s very sad to see the house I grew up in and grew up in,” she said. “It hits hard.”

Smith told CNN that his father was a Mariposa sheriff and his mother, Jane, was working on the fire when she had to leave. According to Smith, she had time to mount their horses and leave the area.

“They only had clothes on their backs and shoes on their feet,” he added.

“They lived in their home for over 37 years and now have lost everything,” Smith wrote on GoFundMe. “37 years of memories, generations of family treasures, and countless sentimental items. Even if these are objects, losing them all in the blink of an eye is devastating.”

The blaze is a few dozen miles southwest of the southern edges of Yosemite National Park, although the park is closer when measured in a straight line.