Deadly fire shuts down key route to Yosemite National Park

A wildfire that killed a California firefighter grew quickly and forced the closure of a key route into Yosemite National Park as crews contended with sweltering conditions Sunday, authorities said.

The blaze that broke out Friday scorched more than 6 square miles (16 square kilometers) of dry brush along steep, remote hillsides on the park's western edge. It was burning largely out of control, and officials shut off electricity to many areas, including Yosemite Valley, as a safety precaution.

Crews battle the Ferguson Fire along steep terrain behind the Redbud Lodge along Highway 140 near El Portal in Mariposa County, Calif., on Saturday, July 14, 2018. (Andrew Kuhn /The Merced Sun-Star via AP)

Guests were ordered to leave Yosemite Cedar Lodge on Saturday as flames crept up slopes and the air became thick with smoke.

"You can't see anything, it's so smoky outside. It's crazy," said front desk clerk Spencer Arebalo, one of a handful of employees who stayed behind at the popular hotel inside the park.

He said it was surreal to see the property empty at the height of tourist season.

"We're counting on being closed at least one more day," Arebalo said.

Fire crews keep watch on the Ferguson Fire from the South Fork Merced River Bridge on Highway 140 near El Portal in Mariposa County, Calif., on Saturday, July 14, 2018.(Andrew Kuhn /The Merced Sun-Star via AP)

Evacuations also were ordered in rural communities just outside the park, and people in nearby lodges and motels were told to be ready to leave if flames approach. A stretch of State Route 140 into Yosemite was closed, and motorists were urged to find alternate routes.

Spiking temperatures and inaccessible terrain was making it difficult for crews to slow the flames, U.S. Forest Service fire Capt. Mike Seymour said.

Heavy fire equipment operator Braden Varney, 36, died early Saturday on the fire line, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Varney was driving a bulldozer to create a gap in vegetation to keep the flames from extending into a nearby community, according to Cal Fire Fire Chief Nancy Koerperich.

Varney's body likely won't be retrieved until Monday at the earliest because it's in a "precarious location" and conditions were too dangerous over the weekend, Cal Fire Deputy Chief Scott McLean said.

A helicopter gathers water from the Merced River to fight the Ferguson Fire along steep terrain behind the Redbud Lodge near El Portal along Highway 140 in Mariposa County, Calif., on Saturday, July 14, 2018. (Andrew Kuhn /The Merced Sun-Star via AP)

The wildfire is one of several burning across the state and among 56 large blazes that are active in the U.S., most in the American West, a region that is struggling with drought and heat.

A blaze near the California-Oregon border that killed a 72-year-old resident and injured three firefighters was almost entirely contained after burning more than 60 square miles (155 square kilometers) of dry brush.

Kern County firefighters make their way to the Redbud Lodge to fight the Ferguson Fire along Highway 140 near El Portal in Mariposa County, Calif., on Saturday, July 14, 2018. (Andrew Kuhn /The Merced Sun-Star via AP)

Crews got full control over a stubborn fire that scorched 142 square miles (368 square kilometers) of brush and destroyed 20 structures in Yolo and Napa counties. Investigators said an electric livestock fence that was improperly installed sparked the flames.

In the fire near Yosemite, investigators were trying to find out more details about Varney's death Saturday, but they believe he was working his way out of the fire area when he was killed, Koerperich said.

"This certainly is going to be devastating to his family and those of us who call him family here with Cal Fire," she said.

Varney had worked for Cal Fire for 10 years. His father also worked as a Cal Fire heavy equipment operator. He is survived by his wife, Jessica; daughter Malhea, 5; and son Nolan, 3.

Gov. Jerry Brown ordered flags at the California Capitol to be flown at half-staff to honor "a man who dedicated his life to protecting his fellow Californians."

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The owner of a suburban Detroit business that caught fire and exploded, killing a man, was arrested at a New York airport as he was preparing to depart for Hong Kong on a one-way ticket, authorities said Friday.

U.S. Customs and New York Port Authority personnel arrested Noor Noel Kestou, 31, on Saturday at John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was brought back to Michigan on Wednesday.

Kestou, of Commerce Township, was arraigned Thursday on an involuntary manslaughter charge.

The March 4 fire and explosion occurred in a Clinton Township building that housed a distributor for the vaping industry called Goo. More than 100,000 vape pens were stored on-site. Authorities have said a truckload of butane canisters had arrived at the building within a week of the explosion that sent cannisters soaring up to 2 miles (3.2 kilometers), and more than half of that stock was still there when the fire began.

Turner Lee Salter, 19, was about a quarter of a mile (0.40 kilometers) away when he was struck by a nitrous oxide cannister that was propelled through the air by the explosion. Salter later died.

Authorities said they were given information on April 20 that Kestou was trying to fly to Hong Kong.

“We don't know what his ultimate goal was,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido told reporters Friday. “Was it to stay out of the country with a wife and child here? Nobody has a crystal ball to determine who is a flight risk.”

“He was a suspect from the beginning, being the owner of this business,” Lucido added. “Anyone that owns a business and something like this happens has to be considered a suspect.”

Lucido said involuntary manslaughter is the highest charge his office could bring, at this time, based on information and evidence in the case.

Goo had received a township occupancy permit in September 2022 for the 26,700-square-foot (2,480-square-meter) building as a retail location for a “smoke shop/vape store” that would sell paraphernalia for vape products, Clinton Township’s Building Department has said.

Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan said Friday that a cause for the fire has not yet been determined, but investigators believe the blaze started in the southwest corner of the building.

Kestou has been released from jail after posting a $500,000 bond. Lucido said authorities have his passport and that a condition of bond is that Kestou has to wear a GPS tether. A probable cause hearing is scheduled for May 7 in Clinton Township District Court.

The Associated Press left messages Friday seeking comment from Kestou’s attorney.

This photo provided by Macomb County Jail shows Noor Kestou. Kestou was charged with involuntary manslaughter Thursday, April 25, 2024, in connection with an explosion at a building he owned in which a nitrous oxide cannister propelled through the air, striking and killing another man. (Macomb County Jail via AP)

FILE - In this frame grab taken from video provided by WXYZ, firefighters battle an industrial fire in the Detroit suburb of Clinton Township, March 4, 2024. Noor Noel Kestou, a suburban Detroit businessman, was charged with involuntary manslaughter Thursday, April 25, in connection with an explosion at the building he owned in which a nitrous oxide cannister propelled through the air, striking and killing another man. (WXYZ via AP, File)