Tall grass from a deluge of winter rains is fueling wildfires throughout the Western U.S., damaging more than a dozen homes in Nevada and leaving Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency in California as thousands of residents outside of Yosemite National Park fled a 30-square-mile blaze, authorities said Tuesday.
Flames threaten more than 1,500 homes and buildings in mountain communities southwest of Yosemite, clearing out the small town of Mariposa, California.