The fire has burned about 42 square miles since it was ignited by lightning on August 8.
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Authorities say more than 1,800 homes are threatened by a destructive wildfire that continues to grow on California’s central coast.
At least 2,400 people remained under evacuation orders in San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties, where the stubborn blaze had destroyed at least 36 residences.
Wildfire in California: The monumental estate, built in the early 20th century for publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst, was no longer in immediate danger, but the Chimney Fire had crept within three miles (5 km) of the castle over the weekend before shifting direction, authorities said.
While no fatalities have been reported, overnight “two residential structures were destroyed”, said Steiger.
Officials said fire behavior remained extreme overnight Monday, continuing to burn in steep terrain, along with very dry brush and timber. The cause remains under investigation.
Eighty miles up the coast, California’s biggest fire grew to almost 135 square miles in rugged wilderness coast along Highway 1 north of Big Sur.
In Washington State, a cluster of wildfires ringed the city of Spokane, destroying more than a dozen homes and forcing hundreds to flee.
Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency for 20 Washington state counties in response to wildfires that threaten homes and natural resources.
The flames have been ignited for seven days.
Firefighters have reached full containment of a blaze east of Los Angeles that forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes.
By Saturday, crews had largely contained the blaze allowing the lifting of evacuation orders for many residents.
One hundred firefighters were battling the wildfire, whose size had reduced from eighty square miles. What we’re doing right now is we’re trying to establish fire lines and contingency lines, those are away from our primary lines, to try to cut off the spread to the north, and we also need to protect the areas north and south of the lake.
Officials say about 50 people have been evacuated from campgrounds and lodging because of a wildfire in Grand Teton National Park in northwest Wyoming.
The office also was working with ranchers to get cattle out of the fire’s path. Wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour were expected to blow across the dry, hot terrain, stoking extreme fire behavior. The advisory remains in effect through Thursday.
The fire burning timber in remote, mountainous backcountry was 50 percent contained and was expected to burn at least until the end of September.
A wildfire burning in the northern area of San Luis Obispo County had grown to nearly 39,000 acres as of Tuesday night with 35-percent containment.
Elsewhere, a 48½-square-mile blaze on national forest lands west of Unity was 40 percent surrounded. PG&E says it has de-energized power lines in the area for firefighter safety at the request of CAL FIRE.
Crews were battling a small wildfire in northern Utah that was approaching a ski resort and a separate blaze in southern Utah burning through sage grouse habitat.
Fire spokeswoman Sierra Hellstrom said Wednesday that wind and high temperatures Tuesday afternoon had pushed the fire to 1.4 square miles. Winds blew northwest Tuesday, which caused smoke to drift toward the south-southeast portion of the Chimney fire.
“Attention is turning from that fire. toward others”, Nathan goes on to say.
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Ward said the fire near the town of Richfield was about 27 percent contained and not threatening any homes.
