SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Fire crews battling to keep a massive blaze from invading the heart of Yosemite National Park in California planned to take advantage of cooler temperatures early on Friday to continue the progress they have made in slowing the advance of flames.

The work by fire crews to get a better handle on the so-called Rim Fire comes ahead of a holiday weekend marking the end of the peak summer tourist season. The blaze in recent days has led to a decline in attendance at Yosemite.

Much of the work on Thursday was devoted to preparing key roadside areas in the park and adjacent forest for controlled burning by hacking away excess vegetation before starting the risky, painstaking process of fighting fire with fire, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Dick Fleishman.

Crews were set to spend the night conducting burn operations from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite to areas deeper into the park in an effort to clear the rugged terrain of unburned trees and chaparral.

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