Groveland, Calif., resident Karine Matter has already packed the suitcases into her car. Photo albums are stacked near the front door. Coolers wait to be filled with food from the fridge. If firefighters can't stop the Yosemite rim fire before Greeley Hill, a few miles south of her home, Matter and her husband will have to evacuate their two young children for a third time in a little over a week.
The first time was Aug. 19. By then, the rim fire had been raging for two days and showed no signs of being contained. Her husband, a contractor who works about an hour away in the city of Murphys, called and said she and the children needed to leave right away. Emergency responders had just closed a road that was one hill away from their property.