MARIPOSA, Calif. – Authorities have sent evacuation orders to some 13,000 phone numbers as a wildfire bears down on a foothill community near Yosemite National Park in Central California.
Sheriff John Anderson issued the evacuation orders late Monday and declared a local state of emergency in Madera County.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Erica Stuart says the 13,000 calls to evacuate included both homes and businesses, and it was not immediately clear how many people were involved.
Four hotels in the community of Oakhurst about 16 miles away from an entrance to Yosemite were evacuated and Tuesday classes have been canceled for most of the Yosemite Unified School District.
The 500-acre blaze had burned at least two structures but it wasn't immediately clear what they were.
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