BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) – Crews contended with blistering temperatures Monday as they tried to beat back a wildfire that burned rural homes and forced hundreds of evacuations in California’s Central Valley, while cooler weather gave firefighters a break as they battled a 10-day-old blaze on the coast.
The newer fire northeast of Fresno damaged some of the 400 homes that were evacuated just outside the Sierra National Forest, but it was not yet clear how many, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
Meanwhile, a wildfire north of scenic Big Sur near the Central Coast held steady at 62.5 square miles, state fire officials said. Firefighters got help from a low marine layer that brought a spike in humidity and dropped temperatures into the 60s and 70s.
The blaze that broke out July 22 has destroyed 57 homes and is threatening 2,000 additional structures. It was less than 20 percent contained Monday.
A bulldozer operator working the fire lines was killed last week in a rollover accident in steep, forested ridges.