加州大火席卷15600英亩土地 数千人被迫撤离

A state of emergency has been declared in Mariposa County, Calif., after a fast-moving wildfire burned thousands of acres over the weekend.

周末，一场快速蔓延的野火烧毁了数千英亩土地，加州马里波萨县宣布进入紧急状态。

The Oak Fire is California's largest wildfire this year.

“橡树山火”是加州今年发生的最大野火。

It sent thousands of residents fleeing their homes in the mountain communities near Yosemite National Park.

这场野火导致约塞米蒂国家公园附近山区的数千名居民逃离家园。

And that's about 150 miles east of San Francisco.

该地位于旧金山以东约150英里处。

Thousands of firefighters are trying to cope with steep terrain and scorching weather conditions that are fueling the growing blaze.

数千名消防员正在努力应对陡峭的地形和炎热的天气条件，这些都助长了越来越大的火势。

Joshua, you were in the town of Mariposa just a few miles south of where this fire has been spreading. What'd you learned?

约书亚，你当时在马里波萨城镇, 这里就在这场大火蔓延的地方以南几英里处)。你了解到了什么?

Yeah. Well, the Oak Fire is 15,600 acres, with no containment.

是的。“橡树山火”席卷15600英亩土地，没有得到控制。

And Cal Fire officials are concerned with the explosive rate of growth that they're seeing.

加州消防官员对他们看到的爆炸性增长的山火感到担忧。

The fire became California's biggest of the year so far within hours of igniting.

这场大火在烧起来几个小时内就成为了加州今年最大的火灾。

Mike Van Loben Sels is a local Cal Fire chief, and he tells me this is one of the most extreme fires that he's seen in 30 years.

迈克·范·洛本·赛尔斯是加州当地的消防队长，他告诉我这是他30年来见过的最严重的火灾之一。

He says that's happening two or three miles from Oak Fire.

他称这次大火发生在离“橡树山火”两三英里的地方。

And those new fires could merge with the existing one, growing the blaze and making it much harder to control.

这些新的大火可能会与现有的大火融合在一起，使火势进一步扩大，使其更难控制。

And, Joshua, what have you heard from people who have had to flee?

约书亚，你从那些被迫逃离的人那里了解到了什么?

Well, almost 4,000 people have been evacuated already.

近4000人已经被疏散。

Some of them are gathering at the Mariposa Elementary School, which is run by the Red Cross.

他们中的一些人聚集在红十字会经营的马里波萨小学。

The organization says about a hundred people have used their shelter in the last two days.

该组织表示，过去两天大约有100人使用了他们的避难所。

And ten structures have been destroyed so far by the Oak Fire, according to the official tally.

据官方统计，到目前为止，已有10座建筑被“橡树山火”烧毁。

It could be weeks before people are able to return to their homes, unfortunately.

不幸的是，人们可能需要数周时间才能返回家园。

And some evacuees have said that the hotel rooms are sparse and expensive.

一些撤离者表示，酒店房间稀少，价格昂贵。

One of the evacuees I spoke to was Marty Vittore.

马蒂·维托里是我采访过的撤离者之一。

He and his wife, Debra, live in the small mountain community of Lushmeadows, which is in the evacuation zone.

他和他的妻子黛布拉住在卢什梅多斯的一个小型山区社区，那里是疏散区。

I stepped out on my back porch and just saw a boiling cloud of, you know, smoke just boiling off. And you knew it was close right away.

我走到后门廊，看到一团滚滚烟雾，正在蒸腾。你马上就知道大火快要来了。

And we should say that a lot of people, because they were forced to flee so quickly, had to leave pets behind.

我们想说，很多人，因为他们被迫迅速逃离家园，不得不把宠物留在家里。

But emergency workers are trying to rescue them, too.

但急救人员也在努力营救他们的宠物。

Yeah. How worried are fire officials about what might happen?

消防官员对可能发生的大火有多担心?

Well, like I said, this fire is just growing at an alarming rate.

就像我说的，这场大火正在以惊人的速度蔓延。

Since Friday, it became the largest in the state.

自上周五以来，这场大火成为该州最大的火灾。

And even the International Space Station tweeted that they could see smoke from outer space.

甚至国际空间站也在推特上表示，他们可以在外太空看到烟雾。

And as you said, the governor declared a local emergency here, which makes this fire a top priority for officials.

正如你所说，该州州长宣布当地进入紧急状态，这使得这场大火成为官员们的首要任务。

There's just a vast amount of dead trees in this particular area of the forest that's been weakened by our ongoing drought here in California and the West.

这片特殊的森林区域里有大量的枯树，这些树木被加州和西部持续的干旱搞得虚弱。

And bark beetle infestations killed thousands and thousands of trees.

感染树皮甲虫使成千上万的树木死亡。

What's making matters worse is in this particular area, there hasn't been any modern recorded fire history since the 1920s.

使事情变得更糟糕的是，自20世纪20年代以来，这个特殊的地区没有任何现代火灾记录。

So that bone-dry vegetation combined with the scorching weather - it's just - it's a catalyst for this fire to spread really quickly.

极度干燥的植被加上炎热的天气--是这场大火迅速蔓延的催化剂。

And the forecast is not on firefighters' side - low humidity coupled with triple-digit temperatures moving into next week in August.

而且天气预报对消防队员不利——低湿度和三位数的气温将持续到下周的8月。

Emergency workers tell me they're preparing for a long, long fight.

应急人员告诉我他们准备进行一场漫长的战斗。