OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on wildfires across the U.S. West (all times local):
8:30 p.m.
A Northern California wildfire has destroyed 37 structures, at least some of them homes. The figure is up from 17 destroyed structures previously reported by state fire officials.
However, the blaze weakened significantly Monday and waves of the thousands of Oroville residents whose homes were evacuated at the fire’s peak were being allowed to return.
Officials say five more structures were damaged by the wildfire north of Sacramento that has burned 9 square miles (23 square kilometers) and is 40 percent contained. They would not say how many of the burned structures were homes.
It’s among several large wildfires burning around California and throughout the West.
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4:15 p.m.
A Northern California man learned his home is still standing when he returned from evacuating from a wildfire zone.
Chuck Wilsey told The Associated Press on Monday that he’s relieved, but cautious, and is already planning for the next evacuation should it come. Wilsey says he’s keeping his trailer attached to his truck and telling his daughters to gather prized possessions they couldn’t get the first time around.
Others were not as lucky. One home was gone except for its chimney. Another was nearly destroyed, with gnarled appliances and a burned-out car the main remnants.
Wilsey was among thousands who had evacuated from a wildfire near Oroville. The blaze has destroyed at least 17 structures, but authorities could not say how many of those were homes.
The fire has burned 9 square miles (23 square kilometers).
Further south, at least 3,500 people remain evacuated as two fires raged at separate ends of Santa Barbara County.
Firefighters are battling blazes across the U.S. West and in Canada.
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1:30 p.m.
California fire officials are warning residents in wildfire areas to get out immediately if authorities issue evacuation orders.
Bennet Milloy, spokesman for the state’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Monday that officials had to send in three engine crews to rescue a person who ignored weekend orders to leave as flames approached mountain homes. Milloy says officials will always try to save human lives, but the effort can sometimes drain resources needed elsewhere. He says three engines can protect up to 20 homes.
Milloy says crews fighting a 9-square-mile (23-square-kilometer) fire near Oroville in Northern California are contending with steep terrain, soaring daytime temperatures and the possibility of renewed winds.
In Southern California, at least 3,500 people remain evacuated as two fires raged at separate ends of Santa Barbara County.
Firefighters are battling blazes across the U.S. West and in Canada.
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11 a.m.
A wildfire ignited by lightning in Canada’s remote Yukon Territory has crossed the U.S. border into Alaska, while another nearby fire in Alaska has crossed into Canada.
Fire managers said Monday a 140-square-mile (364-square-kilometer) fire is straddling the border near an old Alaska Native settlement of Old Rampart, about 20 miles west of the border. Alaska fire spokesman Sam Harrel says no structures are threatened by that fire.
Harrel says another Alaska wildfire triggered by lightning earlier this month several miles to the north crossed the border into Canada and is threatening an old historic settlement there.
Yukon Territory fire spokesman George Maratos says fire crews have shored up protections around the site, including protective burning and clearing brush and debris.
He says no injuries have been reported.
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10:30 a.m.
When Chuck Wilsey was ordered to evacuate this weekend as a wildfire roared near his ranch home in Oroville, California, he was ready.
Wilsey says he started keeping his truck and camper loaded with supplies in February after anxiously watching a creek on his property swell during winter rains that prompted thousands to flee when spillways in the nation’s tallest dam began crumbling.
He’s one of about 4,000 people who evacuated as flames raced through foothills in the Sierra Nevada, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Sacramento.
Crews are making progress on that fire and two major blazes burning in Santa Barbara County.
Authorities are hopeful some Oroville evacuees will be able to return Monday.
The fire has blackened 9 square miles (23 square kilometers) of grass. It’s 35 percent contained.
The area burning is southeast of Oroville, where dam spillway damage led to temporary evacuation orders for 200,000 residents downstream.
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9:30 a.m.
The fight against a wildfire that temporarily forced the evacuation of hundreds of people near the resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado, is winding down.
Firefighters had built containment lines around 85 percent of the blaze as of Monday, and residents of nearby homes were no longer on standby to evacuate. Crews and equipment were starting to be sent to other fires burning around the western U.S.
In Arizona, residents who fled the rural community of Dudleyville, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Phoenix, over the weekend because of a wildfire were allowed to return home.
Pinal County authorities say the evacuations were lifted Sunday evening after crews stopped the growth of the fire, which has destroyed three homes.
In New Mexico, firefighters are mopping up a wildfire that sent up a tall plume of smoke from mountains overlooking Albuquerque late last week.
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7:30 a.m.
Slightly cooler temperatures and diminishing winds are helping California firefighters as they battle several wildfires that have forced thousands to flee their homes.
California’s fire protection agency says crews are making progress on a blaze that swept through grassy foothills in the Sierra Nevada, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Sacramento. About 4,000 people remain evacuated, but authorities are hopeful some will be able to return Monday.
The fire has blackened 9 square miles (23 square kilometers) of grass. It’s 35 percent contained.
In Southern California, at least 3,500 people evacuated as two fires raged at separate ends of Santa Barbara County. The largest has charred more than 45 square miles (116 square kilometers) of dry brush and is threatening more than 130 rural homes. It’s 15 percent contained.
About 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the south, a 17-square-mile (44-square-kilometer) blaze shut down State Route 154 and sent weekend campers scrambling for safety. It’s just 5 percent contained.
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