LOS ANGELES (AP) – Firefighters finally eked out progress on the titanic task of cutting fire lines around one of the biggest blazes in California history.
As the fire straddling Santa Barbara and Ventura counties entered its 10th day, crews had carved containment lines around one-quarter of it.
But the wildfire still raged Tuesday, threatening thousands of homes and stranding tens of thousands of evacuees.
The so-called Thomas fire, one of several burning around the state, has burned over 900 structures, at least 700 of them homes. And it has stretched across nearly 370 square miles (958 sq. kilometers) of territory, making it the fifth largest in state history.
Elsewhere, fire officials announced that a cooking fire at a homeless encampment sparked a blaze last week that destroyed six homes in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.