Firefighters battling a wildfire in Yolo County, Calif., were able to make progress in containing the blaze overnight, fire officials said Thursday.
The County fire, which has spread to 86,000 acres, is 30 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. More than 3,400 fire personnel are on hand to fight the blaze, which has moved into Napa County as well.
Crews have worked aggressively to build containment lines around the fire, though steep and inaccessible terrain made it difficult for firefighters on the northern side of the blaze to make progress earlier this week.
Forecasters say record-breaking heat and gusty winds expected by the weekend will prime California’s brush-covered hills and valleys for fast-moving wildfires, but fire officials said Wednesday’s cooler weather and higher humidity helped firefighters before temperatures warm up over the weekend.
“Things are looking more favorable,” Israel Pinzon, a Cal Fire spokesman, said Wednesday evening. “We’ll see what the next few days bring us, and hopefully we can box this fire up.”
The fire began Saturday afternoon, and by dusk, it had spread to a few thousand acres in and around Guinda, a rural community about 45 miles northwest of Sacramento.
Authorities lifted some mandatory evacuation orders in Yolo County late Tuesday, including west of Highway 16 between County Road 76 and County Road 81, and west of County Road 89 to the burn area from County Road 23 to Highway 128.
Residents in those areas were advised to be prepared to evacuate again in case conditions worsen.
Around the same time, mandatory evacuation orders were expanded to include the area west of Highway 16 to Berryessa Knoxville Road from Old County Road 40 to County Road 53 in Yolo and Napa counties.
No structures or homes have been destroyed.
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