Wildfires send smoke, ash over Yosemite

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- Heavy smoke and ash were wafting over Yosemite Park from a fast-moving wildfire that has charred 46 square miles west of the popular tourist destination in California, a park ranger said Tuesday.

"I'm just seeing a lot of smoke. We have a lot of ash. We were basically raining white ash last night and right now," Scott Gediman told CNN.

The flames were about 15 miles from Yosemite Valley, the most-visited area in the center of the park, said Suzanne Grin, a National Park Service employee who works at Yosemite.

At least 200 residents were ordered to leave their homes in Mariposa County, and she said another 1,000 were on alert.

The blaze, dubbed the Telegraph Fire, was threatening 4,000 homes in the communities of Midpines, Briceburg, Mariposa, Greenley Hill, Coulterville, Bear Valley and Mount Bullion Camp, according to the latest information from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).

At midday Tuesday, containment of the fire remained at 10 percent.

Mandatory evacuations were in place east of California Highway 49 north and south of its junction with state Highway 140, Grin said.

Firefighters were aiming to keep the blaze east of Highway 49, west and north of Highway 140 and south of state Highway 120, a CalFire official said at a briefing for firefighters Tuesday morning.

"We've been out of electricity since Saturday. And so just keeping food and keeping things going is becoming more difficult. So I'll stay on, but they're going to go out of town for a few days," Gediman said.

He said people were using ice chests to keep food cold.

Gediman said visitors' centers, lodges and other buildings in the park were using their own generators.

California Highway 140 into Yosemite is closed, but highways 41 from the south or 120 from the west are open. Watch how smoke obscures the park's beauty »

Since the "Telegraph Fire" began on Friday -- apparently as a result of target shooting -- the blaze has destroyed at least 25 homes and burned more than 29,000 acres of dry timber, California's forestry department said late Monday.

Some 3,400 firefighters are trying to control the blaze, which exploded in size on Sunday and is threatening 4,000 homes, the department said.

Firefighters are hampered by high temperatures, steep terrain and the dry timber -- which hasn't burned in a century -- that is fueling the fire.

The flames are spreading quickly "because there's a heavy fuel load and mostly because of the really hot temperatures we're experiencing here," said Sara Gibson of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention. iReport.com: View photos from the fiery scene

Mandatory evacuation orders are in place along several roads between Mariposa, Midpines and Greenley Hill, the department said.

Because of the terrain, firefighters have attacked the fire from the air, using military aircraft to dump retardant on the flames. They have managed to contain about 10 percent of the blaze, which has also destroyed 27 other buildings in addition to the 25 homes, according to the forestry department.

Four firefighters have suffered minor injuries, the department said.

The preliminary investigation into the fire has determined that it was caused by target practice, according to Sue Exline of the U.S. Forest Service. Exline said that target practice is permitted in many parts of the area, particularly as hunting season -- which opens in August -- approaches.

"It wasn't intentional, and the investigation is still ongoing in terms of the circumstances," she said. "It's not atypical for people to be out doing some target practice shooting."

State fire officials said the fire is burning in all directions. Watch flames drive people from their homes »

"That's what made it so difficult for us to really get our ... containment lines around it," forestry department spokesman Daniel Berlant told CNN on Sunday.

Jen Neresian's family had 10 minutes to evacuate from their home in Mariposa County.

"It's a big fire and it's really out of control, spreading in all directions and really unpredictable," she said.

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