Two thousand homes are threatened by a wildfire that erupted near the western border of Yosemite National Park and grew to more than 16,000 acres, a fire official said on Sunday.

“This thing is burning in every different direction,” said Daniel Berlant of the California Department for Forestry and Fire Prevention, according to CNN. “That's what made it so difficult for us to really get our ... containment lines around it.”

About 900 firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze that burned on both sides of a canyon along the Merced River.

Around 200 homes in Mariposa County were in immediate danger and under mandatory evacuation orders, Berlant said. Other residents were warned that they may have to leave their homes when announced, because of the approaching fires.

Berlant said they were “working very closely with the local sheriff’s department” to help the residents evacuate their homes.
Most of the evacuated homes are in the town of Midpines, situated along Highway 140, which lead to the west entrance of Yosemite National Park.

State fire spokeswoman Karen Guillemin said that the cause of the fire “is definitely target shooting,” The Associated Press reported. But she did not give further details on the matter.

The fire also caused officials to cut power to the park.

Fire crews found it very difficult to fight the fire, because of the temperatures over 100 degrees and the low humidity in the area.
“It's burned over 16,000 acres now, it's really burning in areas that haven't burned in 100 years,” Berlant said Sunday, as quoted bu CNN. “So the vegetation is extremely dry and there's a lot of it to burn.”