New footage has been released by Merced City Fire Department showing the first 12 hours of the fight against the massive Creek Fire just south of Yosemite National park. The fire is raging through Sierra National Forest along the San Joaquin River, 115 miles east of Merced County, California and started 4th September. In one clip, Merced FD's OES 393 crew were overrun and then had to "drive through a wall of flames" to escape. Bodycam footage shows a firefighter frantically firing water at the encroaching inferno before pulling out an axe and dismantling the flaming barbecue beside him. Crews are shown coming incredibly close to the flames as they creep up to homes through thick smoke. Captioning the video, Merced FD wrote: "It is hard for our firefighters to put to words what their feelings are sometimes.
