Watch a Terrifying and Beautiful Timelapse of the Yosemite Rim Fire

The massive Rim Fire spreading into Yosemite National Park has slowed down recently as the weather begins to cooperate with efforts to stop it. And now that the danger to the park has subsided a bit, officials there posted a timelapse compilation of the blaze's approach. It's simultaneously terrifying and beautiful: 

This, by the way, is what the fire looked like from space on Monday (via NASA): 

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As Yosemite National Park explains, the last part of their timelapse video shows Yosemite Valley, visible just to the south east of the blaze on the image above. As you can see from the clear skies, the smoke from the fire, right next door, barely touched the valley.  

The air in Reno, Nevada, however, hasn't fared as well: 

The air is bad in Reno! Monday was bad, but Tuesday was even worse. pic.twitter.com/xawa18Bjyv

— Darla Givens (@DarlaGivens) August 28, 2013

As of Wednesday morning, the Rim Fire had burned 187,466 acres, and is expected to become the 6th largest wildfire in California history. It's now at 23 percent containment, up from 20 percent on Tuesday.