美国国家公共电台 NPR--Fire crews are gaining the upper hand on the Oak Fire near Yosemite

Fire crews are gaining the upper hand on the Oak Fire near Yosemite

Transcript¹

The fire near Yosemite National Park exploded in a matter of hours last week. Thousands have been forced to evacuate² in recent days. Families are beginning to reckon with the devastation³.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Firefighters are making gains on the Oak Fire burning near Yosemite National Park. California's largest fire of the year so far has consumed nearly 19,000 acres and forced thousands to flee. Families there are beginning to reckon with the devastation. From KVPR in Fresno, Joshua Yeager has more.

JOSHUA YEAGER, BYLINE⁴: The fire exploded in a matter of hours last week. It burned at an intensity⁵ and pace that local crews said they had never seen before. Flames chewed through dozens of structures. Among them, Heather and Aaron Martinez's (ph) home in the small mountain community of Jerseydale.

AARON MARTINEZ: It was gut-wrenching.

YEAGER: Standing⁶ in the aftermath, Aaron Martinez chokes up. They lost everything.

A MARTINEZ: It's beyond gut-wrenching. I wept for the land. I wept for all the animals and everything I see. I see it right now. This whole mountainside's still smoldering⁷. But it's still filled with lots of life and lots of life that needs help.

YEAGER: When the fire broke out, the couple was out shopping about an hour away. Heather Martinez says they didn't have a chance to grab that go bag they meticulously⁸ packed exactly for that moment.

HEATHER MARTINEZ: All the preparedness in the world did not help us.

YEAGER: Jerseydale was especially vulnerable to fire. Many trees were already dying because of beetles⁹ and drought. The fire moved swiftly through the community. An emergency worker discovered their month-old kitten severely¹⁰ burned in the rubble¹¹. He rushed the kitten to the vet¹², but it didn't survive. The couple fears their other cats also perished.

H MARTINEZ: Knowing that the rest of them probably met the same fate is just - I hope it was quick.

YEAGER: This is the third time the couple have evacuated¹³ due to wildfires since 2014. Still, they resolved to stay in the mountain community they've called home for 24 years.

A MARTINEZ: Like I said, I'm going to spend the rest of my life up here. I'll give my life to this mountain, to this community, to this area.

YEAGER: Officials are getting the fire under control, but it's tentative. Aaron Martinez says enduring this kind of crisis is the price of living in this wild place. Though he loves it here, the extremes, he says, are both beautiful and deadly.

For NPR News, I'm Joshua Yeager in Mariposa, Calif.

(SOUNDBITE OF J'SAN AND EPEKTASE'S "DEEP DIVE")

1 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。

2 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

3 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 smoldering   

v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mat was smoldering where the burning log had fallen. 燃烧的木棒落下的地方垫子慢慢燃烧起来。 来自辞典例句
• The wood was smoldering in the fireplace. 木柴在壁炉中闷烧。 来自辞典例句

8 meticulously   

adv.过细地，异常细致地；无微不至；精心

参考例句：

• The hammer's silvery head was etched with holy runs and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. 锤子头是纯银制成的，雕刻着神圣符文，而握柄则被精心地包裹在蓝色的皮革中。 来自辞典例句
• She is always meticulously accurate in punctuation and spelling. 她的标点和拼写总是非常精确。 来自辞典例句

9 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

11 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

12 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

13 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。