As of Tuesday, the so-called Hart Fire had been 10 percent contained while officials were hopeful that a pair of fires, dubbed the Spokane Complex, could be contained within their existing footprints.
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A wildfire burning through timber in the central Idaho mountains has expanded to 150 square miles.
He worked 47 straight days fighting one large fire last year and said he worked three weeks with no break this year, most of it fighting a Monterey County fire that has burned more than 134 square miles.
The blazes all erupted on Sunday, stoked by extremely hot, dry weather and gusty winds, as authorities scrambled to amass sufficient firefighting forces to meet the sudden threat, recruiting farmers and other volunteers with bulldozers to join the effort.
More firefighters are headed to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks in northwest Wyoming.
The fire has destroyed 48 structures, damaging 7 others and had grown to more than 31,000 acres – almost 50 square miles. The Tri-Valley fire department has firefighters battling the unrelenting Soberanes fire, which has been burning since July 22, and a team just returned from the Blue Cut fire in San Bernardino County, which closed roads, forced evacuations and destroyed a historic landmark. The town also lost power, making the battle by firefighters more hard. Combined, the wildfires have charred more than 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares), the agency said.
State firefighters’ duties have changed as they try to protect an increasing number of rural homes built in the midst of tinder-dry brush and trees, a problem that continues to grow, said University of California, Riverside, professor Richard Minnich, who studies fire ecology.
Firefighters in California said they are making progress slowing the advance of several devastating wildfires, but authorities ordered the temporary closure of a historic villa in the path of one unsafe inferno. The fire base camp is seen across the lake (in the background) in the Camp 9 area.
“We ask that residents returning to the evacuation zone exercise caution”. “Eventually, it will run out of things to burn and we’ll get the fire out”.
Fire spokeswoman Sierra Hellstrom said Wednesday that wind and high temperatures Tuesday afternoon had pushed the fire to 1.4 square miles.
Some evacuations remained in place but the majority of those ordered out were allowed to return Friday, when crews made huge gains against the blaze, fire spokesman Brad Pitassi said.
Cal Fire investigators determined that the wildfire was unintentionally sparked.
Hearst said the fire was burning the eastern portion of the ranch, which is mostly uninhabited wildlands, so the losses have been kept to a minimum.
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According to NBC News, the evacuation orders at one point affected more than 82,000 people in the area.
