A wildfire is spreading at a dangerous rate near a Yosemite gateway town and has forced mandatory evacuations.

The blaze is moving quickly to several hundred acres near the Tuolumne County city of Sonora in the Sierra Nevada foothills Sunday afternoon.

It forced evacuations and closed roads as firefighters worked to contain the blaze. 

The Dove Fire was reported right before 3 p.m. in the hills southwest of downtown Sonora, a popular gateway city to Yosemite National Park. It grew to 223 acres by 7:30 p.m. according to Cal Fire. 

As of late Sunday night, the fire was just 1% contained, but its rate of spread had slowed from dangerous to moderate, meaning that it was holding within lines built to slow it down.

The Cal Fire Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit said “resources are making good progress” in a 6 p.m. update.

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