POPE VALLEY, Calif. (AP) – Firefighters have largely tamed two wildfires at opposite ends of California, with no new growth, destruction or evacuations as the holiday weekend began.
In by far the larger of the two fires, crews in wine growing Napa County in Northern California made big strides Friday against a blaze that had burned two homes earlier in the week, though a long weekend of work loomed.
“While we’ve turned the corner, while we’ve slowed down this fire, there’s still a lot of work ahead of us,” state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said.
The fire, which had burned nearly 7 square miles since Tuesday, was 65 percent contained Friday night and was no longer threatening homes thanks to favorable weather conditions that allowed crews to burn away fuel on the fire’s flank.
The fire damaged nine structures including the two houses, but hadn’t been threatening the county’s famed vineyards. It also forced a one-day evacuation of about 200 homes.