Photo courtesy National Park Service: Merced River with Half Dome in background

EVACUATIONS IN YOSEMITE DUE TO WILDFIRE

By Miriam Raftery

September 8, 2014 (Yosemite)--A wildfire burning in Yosemite National Park has forced closure of some of the Park’s most popular trails. Strong winds have whipped the fire into a 700 acre conflagration that on Sunday forced evacuation of over 100 hikers and climbers, including 40 on the trail to Half Dome, some airlifted out by helicopter.