美国国家公共电台 NPR--A fast-moving wildfire near Yosemite remains uncontained

A fast-moving wildfire near Yosemite remains¹ uncontained

Transcript²

The largest wildfire in California has spread rapidly. Fire crews are contending with stifling³ weather conditions and mountainous terrain⁴ as they attempt to contain the fire in Yosemite National Park.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

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

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The Oak Fire is California's largest wildfire this year. It sent thousands of residents fleeing their homes in the mountain communities near Yosemite National Park. And that's about 150 miles east of San Francisco. Thousands of firefighters are trying to cope with steep terrain and scorching⁶ weather conditions that are fueling the growing blaze.

MART?NEZ: Joshua Yeager with member station KVPR has been reporting from the area. Joshua, you were in the town of Mariposa just a few miles south of where this fire has been spreading. What'd you learned?

JOSHUA YEAGER, BYLINE⁷: Yeah. Well, the Oak Fire is 15,600 acres, with no containment⁸. And Cal Fire officials are concerned with the explosive rate of growth that they're seeing. The fire became California's biggest of the year so far within hours of igniting. 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.

MIKE VAN LOBEN SELS: We had some very, very extreme fire behavior, some very, very extreme spotting.

YEAGER: And spotting, for those who don't know, is when embers fly ahead of the fire and spark new ones. He says that's happening two or three miles from Oak Fire. And those new fires could merge⁵ with the existing one, growing the blaze and making it much harder to control.

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

YEAGER: Well, almost 4,000 people have been evacuated⁹ already. Some of them are gathering¹⁰ at the Mariposa Elementary School, which is run by the Red Cross. The organization says about a hundred people have used their shelter in the last two days. And ten structures have been destroyed so far by the Oak Fire, according to the official tally¹¹. It could be weeks before people are able to return to their homes, unfortunately. And some evacuees¹² have said that the hotel rooms are sparse¹³ and expensive. One of the evacuees I spoke¹⁴ to was Marty Vittore. He and his wife, Debra, live in the small mountain community of Lushmeadows, which is in the evacuation zone.

MARTY VITTORE: 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.

YEAGER: And we should say that a lot of people, because they were forced to flee so quickly, had to leave pets behind. But emergency workers are trying to rescue them, too.

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

YEAGER: Well, like I said, this fire is just growing at an alarming rate. Since Friday, it became the largest in the state. And even the International Space Station tweeted that they could see smoke from outer space. And as you said, the governor declared a local emergency here, which makes this fire a top priority for officials. There's just a vast amount of dead trees in this particular area of the forest that's been weakened by our ongoing¹⁵ drought here in California and the West. And bark beetle¹⁶ infestations¹⁷ killed thousands and thousands of trees.

What's making matters worse is in this particular area, there hasn't been any modern recorded fire history since the 1920s. So that bone-dry vegetation combined with the scorching weather - it's just - it's a catalyst¹⁸ for this fire to spread really quickly. And the forecast is not on firefighters' side - low humidity coupled with triple-digit temperatures moving into next week in August. Emergency workers tell me they're preparing for a long, long fight.

MART?NEZ: Joshua Yeager is with member station KVPR. Joshua, thanks a lot.

YEAGER: Thank you.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

4 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

5 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

6 scorching   

adj. 灼热的

参考例句：

• a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
• a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

9 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

10 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

11 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

12 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

13 sparse   

adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的

参考例句：

• The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区，那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
• The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

16 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

17 infestations   

n.（害虫、盗贼等）群袭，出没，横行( infestation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The arrival of warm weather raises the specter of disease and increased rat infestations caused by rotting garbage. 天气转暖使人们担心垃圾腐烂会引起疾病传播和鼠群猖獗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Piperazine citrate is the drug of choice in the treatment of Ascaris infestations. 枸橼酸哌嗪治疗蛔虫感染是最好的药物。 来自辞典例句

18 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。