Authorities have lifted all evacuation orders affecting thousands of people, less than a week after a wildfire raged through mountainous terrain in Southern California and consumed hundreds of homes and other buildings. More people returned to their homes Friday as firefighters made significant progress against a huge wildfire burning in Southern California’s San Bernardino National Forest, but that was tempered by the announcement that at least 96 homes and 213 outbuildings were destroyed.
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The explosive wildfire has burned 37,020 acres, and firefighters have now got the blaze 85 percent contained, authorities said as all 82,000 displaced residences were allowed to go home, though many will not have a home to return to.
Fire spokesman Brad Pitassi said early Saturday that the blaze in mountain areas of San Bernardino County is 68 percent contained.
A spate of fires throughout the U.S. state of California have left people displaced and thousands of square kilometres of vegetation destroyed.
“We come in right on the heels of the fire”, Horton said.
Firefighters were also near full containment of the Clayton fire in idyllic Lake County near Napa, with the blaze about 95% contained by Sunday.
Cal Fire said a preliminary estimate indicated at least 105 homes were destroyed and three damaged. Dillon said the residents were “very pleased” to know the Lytle Creek area was open and that those still under evacuation orders were being patient.
Almost 1,900 structures were threatened by a blaze in coastal San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties, where more than 2,400 people were under evacuation orders.
Ten thousand fire personnel are battling blazes across California, including in San Luis Obispo County, where the massive Chimney Fire threatens homes and the historic Hearst Castle.
The fire has burned more than 26 square miles and is 33 percent contained.
And just west of Los Angeles, the Rey Fire is burning through wilderness in Santa Barbara County.
Fire information officer Ron Oatman could not immediately say how close the blaze was to Hearst Castle, but he said the main body of flames was moving away from the landmark.
Hearst Castle was closed over the weekend, though officials said Sunday that the fire was growing in the opposite direction of the popular tourist attraction built by media magnate William Randolph Hearst. Sheriff’s deputies will make sure that only residents are returning to the mountain town of about 4,500 residents.
In Northern California, fire crews were gaining control Sunday on an arson fire that destroyed 189 homes.
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The fire has been burning for a month and has consumed some 87,000 acres north of Big Sur.
