© Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Fire illuminates the remains of a burned-out property near Mariposa, Calif., on Tuesday.
Fire illuminates the remains of a burned-out property near Mariposa, Calif., on Tuesday.
The town's 2,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate because of the blaze known as the Detwiler Fire, and Gov. Jerry Brown has issued a state of emergency for Mariposa County.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, posted on its website that "firefighters experienced extreme and aggressive fire behavior" on Tuesday. "Firefighters on the ground as well as aircraft are actively working to contain and suppress the fire."
The Detwiler Fire has burned more than 45,000 acres and is just 7 percent contained, and it threatens "culturally and historically sensitive areas," the agency says.
"I haven't seen these conditions in a long time, it's a wind driven, slope-driven, fuel-driven fire," Cal Fire's Jerry Fernandez told Fresno's ABC affiliate.
Mariposa is about 150 miles east of San Jose, Calif.
Comment: Damage was way up in 2016, but the trend for the past few years seems to have been fewer major disasters, but with perhaps more frequent smaller-scale events: