At Ike Bunney's dude ranch near the Sierra community of Tuolumne City, all creatures have been evacuated as firefighters brace for an intense battle to keep a wildfire raging north of Yosemite National Park out of mountain communities. 
 
 A firefighter watches for spot fires during a burnout operation while battling the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. Fire crews are clearing brush and setting sprinklers... (Associated Press) 
 
 Trees burn in a burnout fire as firefighters continue to battle the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. Fire crews are clearing brush and setting sprinklers to protect... (Associated Press) 
 
 Embers from burning trees fill the air as firefighters continues to battle the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. Fire crews are clearing brush and setting sprinklers... (Associated Press) 
 
 A contractor prepares to load a bulldozer onto a trailer as a smoke plume from the Rim Fire rises near Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. With winds gusting and flames jumping from... (Associated Press) 
 
 Trees burn in a burnout fire as firefighters continue to battle the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. Fire crews are clearing brush and setting sprinklers to protect... (Associated Press) 
 
 Inmate firefighters walk along Highway 120 after a burnout operation as firefighters continue to battle the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. Fire crews are clearing... (Associated Press) 
 
 A firefighter walks along Highway 120 past burning trees as firefighters continues to battle the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. Fire crews are clearing brush and... (Associated Press) 
 
 Inmate firefighters walk along state Highway 120 as firefighters continue to battle the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. Fire crews are clearing brush and setting... (Associated Press) 
 
 The smoke generated by the Rim Fire rises under a star-filled sky near Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. Fire crews are clearing brush and setting sprinklers to protect two groves... (Associated Press) 
 
 "We've already evacuated the horses," said Bunney, who was keeping an eye on his Slide Mountain Guest Ranch on Sunday. "I think they're worried about the fire sparking over these hills." 
 
 As fire leapfrogs across the vast, picturesque Sierra forests, moving from one treetop to the next, residents in the fire's path are moving animals and children to safety. 
 
 The fire has moved northeast away from Groveland, where smoke gave away to blue skies Sunday. But at Tuolumne City's Black Oak Casino in Tuolumne City, the slot machines were quiet as emergency workers took over nearly all of the resort's 148 hotel rooms. 
 
 "The casino is empty," said casino employee Jessie Dean, who left her four children at relatives' homes in the Central Valley. "Technically, the casino is open, but there's nobody there." 
 
 Hundreds of firefighters were deployed Sunday to protect Tuolumne City and other communities in the path of the Rim Fire. Eight fire trucks and four bulldozers were deployed near Bunney's ranch on the west side of Mount Baldy, where two years of drought have created tinder-dry conditions. 
 
 "Winds are increasing, so it's going to be very challenging," said Bjorn Frederickson, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. 
 
 The fire continues burning in the remote wilderness area of Yosemite, but park spokesman Tom Medema said it's edging closer to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the source of San Francisco's famously pure drinking water. 
 
 Despite ash falling like snowflakes on the reservoir and a thick haze of smoke limiting visibility to 100 feet, the quality of the water piped to the city 150 miles away is still good, say officials with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. 
 
 The city's hydroelectric power generated by the system has been interrupted by the fire, forcing the utility to spend $600,000 buying power on the open market. 
 
 Park employees are continuing their efforts to protect two groves of giant sequoias that are unique the region by cutting brush and setting sprinklers, Medema said. 
 
 The fire has consumed nearly 225 square miles of picturesque forests. Officials estimate containment at just 7 percent. 
 
 "It's slowing down a bit, but it's still growing," Frederickson said. 
 
 Fire lines near Ponderosa Hills and Twain Hart are being cut miles ahead of the blaze in locations where fire officials hope they will help protect the communities should the fire jump containment lines. 
 
 "There is a huge focus in those areas in terms of air support and crews on the ground building fire lines to protect those communities. We're facing difficult conditions and extremely challenging weather," Frederickson said. 
 
 The high winds and movement of the fire from bone-dry brush on the ground to 100-foot oak and pine treetops have created dire conditions. 
 
 "A crown fire is much more difficult to fight," said Daniel Berlant of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "Our firefighters are on the ground having to spray up." 
 
 The blaze sweeping across steep, rugged river canyons quickly has become one of the biggest in California history, thanks in part to extremely dry conditions caused by a lack of snow and rainfall this year. Investigators are trying to determine how the fire started Aug. 17, days before lightning storms swept through the region and sparked other, smaller blazes. 
 
 The fire is the most critical of a dozen burning across California, officials say. More than 12 helicopters and a half-dozen fixed wing tankers are dropping water and retardant from the air, and 2,800 firefighters are on the ground. 
 
 "This fire has continued to pose every challenge that there can be on a fire: inaccessible terrain, strong winds, dry conditions. It's a very difficult firefight," Berlant said. 
 
 Statewide, more than 8,300 firefighters are battling nearly 400 square miles of fires. Many air districts have issued health advisories as smoke settles over Northern California. While Yosemite Valley is clear, the Lake Tahoe basin is thick with smoke, and many outdoor activities have been canceled in Reno, Nev. 
 
 The U.S. Forest Service says about 4,500 structures are threatened by the Rim Fire. Berlant said 23 structures were destroyed, though officials have not determined whether they were homes or rural outbuildings. ||||| Yosemite National Park officials made additional closures as a precaution and because of air quality as a massive wildfire raged nearby. 
 
 The Rim fire, which is burning in and around the park, has scorched nearly 134,000 acres over the last eight days and is 7% contained. 
 
 The eastern edge of the fire is active, with increased winds pushing the blaze in that direction and creating huge columns of smoke, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Dick Fleishman. 
 
 “Combine that with terrain and dry fuels and it’s all making for a recipe that’s giving them a hard time,” he said. 
 
 Firefighters can usually make headway during the night and early morning when the winds settle down and the humidity increases, he said. But once the inversion layer lifts, he said, the humidity drops. 
 
 Park officials closed White Wolf, including the lodge, campground, road and trails, due to smoky conditions Sunday afternoon. 
 
 Though they are not in imminent danger, the Merced and Tuolumne Groves of Giant Sequoias were also closed so firefighters could work on fire prevention efforts. Tamarack Flat Campground and Yosemite Creek Campground were being vacated because of slow ingress and egress. 
 
 The entrance from Highway 120 on the west side of the park, the Hodgdon Meadow campground and the Hetch Hetchy backpackers’ campground remained closed Sunday. 
 
 Popular areas in the park such as Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, Wawona, Mariposa Grove, Crane Flat and Tuolumne Meadows were open Sunday. 
 
 Winds will be the biggest challenge for firefighters in the coming days. Ridge winds are expected to increase this afternoon and tonight, which could hamper containment efforts, said Kevin Durfee, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Hanford. 
 
 “It really looks like the weather is not going to be terribly cooperative in the next three days,” he said. 
 
 Winds could gust up to 30 mph in the area around the fire, and will remain strong Sunday and Monday, said Drew Peterson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sacramento. 
 
 Temperatures are expected to remain steady at normal to below normal, which means no excessive heat to dry out fuels, he said. Humidity will be about 20% to 25%, he said. 
 
 “It could be drier, much drier than it is. The main thing they’re going against is the winds,” Peterson said. “If they can make it until Tuesday, it looks like conditions will be better.” 
 
 On Sunday, as nearby Groveland breathed a collective sigh of relief — the town was plastered with signs to firefighters reading "Thank You! We love You" — Tuolumne City, about 45 minutes away, became the latest Sierra town in the line of fire. Black Oak Casino was evacuated. The tourists left, but then the hotel's 148 rooms immediately filled with emergency workers. In nearby Sonora, the smoke was so thick that the local Wal-Mart closed. 
 
 Firefighters were digging trenches with bulldozers as well as hand-digging lines to try to hold the fire at least a mile away from Tuolumne City, the way they did in Groveland. 
 
 It is one of California's largest fires in recent history. 
 
 "It's the worst one I've seen in 23 years. It's even worse than in 1987 when parts of Yosemite looked like a moonscape," said Groveland Hotel owner Peggy Mosley. 
 
 Her inn was filled with national news crews and she winced as they headed toward Yosemite instead of Tuolumne City. The tourist mecca of Yosemite Valley is open and the skies are clear, but the fire has crossed into the remote country on the northwestern side of the park, leading to headlines linking the national park and fire. 
 
 "Yosemite is an international destination and people don't understand the distance," she said. "This morning I got a call from someone in Switzerland saying, 'So Yosemite burned down?'" 
 
 ALSO: 
 
 Yosemite fire: San Francisco water, power unaffected 
 
 Yosemite fire too big 'for our minds to manage,' resident says 
 
 Tropical storm remnants to bring showers, thunder to Southland 
 
 Twitter: @Sam_Schaefer | @DianaMarcum 
 
 Samantha.Schaefer@latimes.com | Diana.Marcum@latimes.com
– The massive wildfire raging in and around Yosemite National Park is still growing, and forecasters warn that today will pose a huge challenge for firefighters. Progress has been made at the western edge of the fire, but it is still pushing to the north and east and strong winds spreading the fire from treetop to treetop are likely to hamper containment efforts today, a National Weather Service meteorologist tells the Los Angeles Times. "If they can make it until Tuesday, it looks like conditions will be better," he says. The Rim Fire, one of the largest in California's history, is still just 7% contained despite the efforts of 2,800 firefighters from across the state."This fire has continued to pose every challenge that there can be on a fire: inaccessible terrain, strong winds, dry conditions. It's a very difficult firefight," a forestry official tells the AP. Communities in the fire's path have been evacuated. In San Francisco, where a state of emergency has been declared, drinking water quality has not been affected despite the fire's proximity to the main reservoir supplying the city, though two hydropower plants have been shut down and the city has had to spend $600,000 buying power elsewhere to make up the shortfall, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The blaze has created its own weather pattern, and is threatening two groves of the planet's oldest trees.