A plane drops a fire retardant over a wildfire near Cajon Pass in California on Tuesday.
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More than 300 Southern California Edison personnel are working to restore power and fix utility poles damaged by the Blue Cut fire.
Dave Gross, Evacuation Volunteer Coordinator, holds a piglet at the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds. It’s painstaking and important work that helps evacuated residents know if they lost everything or have something waiting for them when they return home.
The largest one, the Blue Cut fire burning 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, has been 75 percent contained after burning through 58 square miles of small towns and wildlands, according to the California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Most of those residents are returning to find their homes intact, though not all.
More than 80,000 residents were told to evacuate earlier in the week because of the fast-moving blaze, which has destroyed 96 homes and 213 outbuildings.
Fire crews overnight made progress containing an arson fire that has destroyed nearly 200 homes.
Firefighters’ plan for Sunday consisted mostly of mop-up efforts and continuing to contain the fire, the U.S. Forest Service release said.
More than 1,200 firefighters are battling the fire that started August 13 and spread to the community’s downtown area and many residential neighborhoods. Authorities have charged Damin Pashlik of Clearlake with starting the Clayton fire and 11 other fires in the area since July 2, 2015.
Meanwhile, a almost month-old blaze burning near California’s scenic Big Sur is not expected to be fully contained until the end of September.
“We’ve got the ball, we’re on the move”, fire information officer Bob Poole said. Containment was at only 35 percent Sunday. Crews continued to sift through burned regions to tally the damage. Only residents were allowed past the road closure at Sierra Way/Lytle Creek Road and Glen Helen Parkway with proof of residency.
Most evacuation orders, which affected some 82,000 people at the height of the fire, have been lifted, officials said.
According to ABC, some residents who live in areas east of Interstate 15 were allowed to return to their homes on Thursday, but as of Friday afternoon, about 34,500 homes still remain under mandatory evacuation orders.
Fire spokesman Costa Dillon says that area is where the most active fire remains. Drought conditions in California have left plenty of fuel for wildfires.
Meanwhile, a new fire broke out in rural Santa Barbara County, quickly surging to about 600 acres and prompting the evacuation of a pair of campgrounds.
The Hearst Castle in central California remains closed Sunday as a result of a wildfire burning in San Luis Obispo County.
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Fire officials say the blaze was about 3 ½ miles from the hilltop estate on Saturday.
