Wildfire scorches brush and trees along northwest edge of Yosemite park

(24 Aug 2013) A wildfire raging along the northwest edge of America's Yosemite National Park gained strength on Saturday morning as firefighters scrambled to protect nearby mountain communities. The fire held steady overnight, but officials said firefighters didn't get their usual reprieve from cooler early morning temperatures on Saturday. "As of yesterday (Friday), the park had burned only about 11,000 acres (4,452 hectares) in the park, all of that in remote wilderness. We know there's been some growth in that overnight, but it's pretty modest growth," said Tom Medema, a National Park Service spokesman. After burning for nearly a week on the edges of Yosemite, the fire moved into the northwest boundary of the park on Friday. "We have some major obstacles we're still facing. One being inaccessible steep terrain, dry vegetation and just extreme fire activity," said Ashley Taylor, a US Forest Service spokeswoman. Dry fuel and hot weather have combined already to make this the 16th largest fire in California's history. More than 2,600 firefighters and a half dozen aircraft are battling the blaze. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...