Headline RoundupJuly 25th, 2022

California’s Largest Wildfire of the Year Burns Near Yosemite

Summary from the AllSides News Team

The massive wildfire near California's Yosemite National Park quickly became the state's biggest blaze of the year.

The blaze, dubbed the Oak Fire, ignited on Friday afternoon near the town of Midpines in Mariposa County. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday declared a state of emergency in the county and urged over 6,000 residents living in the area to evacuate. About 2,000 firefighters are using aircraft and bulldozers to combat the blaze. The Oak Fire burned across more than 17,200 acres at 16% containment by Monday night, according to Cal Fire.  Over 2,600 homes and businesses in the are have lost power, according to Pacific Gas & Electric.

Some center-rated outlets noted that the Oak Fire "pales in comparison" to other megafires from previous years while acknowledging its "rapid growth rate." Left-rated coverage accentuated criticisms of Biden's reluctance to declare a climate emergency amid "mounting real-time evidence" of extreme heat "driven by planetary warming" intensifying wildfires. Right-rated coverage suggested that the Oak Fire marks a "fairly typical ramp-up" to the California wildfire season and criticized mainstream media outlets for unjustly linking the blaze to climate change.

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