SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada (all times local):
3:58 p.m.
Two major wildfires in California have sent nearly 8,000 people fleeing to safety.
Fire officials said on Sunday 4,000 people evacuated and other 7,400 were told to prepare to leave their homes as a fire swept through grassy foothills in the Sierra Nevada, about 60 miles north of Sacramento.
A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman said that fire has burned nearly 8 square miles (20 sq. kilometers) and has destroyed at least 10 structures.
Mary Ann Aldrich said additional homes were destroyed overnight. An inspection team is trying to determine the extent of the damage.
In Southern California, some 3,600 people evacuated as a result of a wildfire in the Santa Ynez Valley east of Santa Barbara. The fire sent hundreds of campers, including a group of 90 children, scrambling when it began Saturday and burned on both sides of State Route 154.
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1 p.m.
Destructive wildfires burning across the West have charred a handful more buildings and led to more evacuations.
In rural Arizona, fire officials say three homes were among 10 buildings that were burned. The wildfire there has led to the evacuation of the entire town of Dudleyville, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Phoenix.
A wildfire burning in near Summer Lake in south-central Oregon has destroyed a hunting cabin and an outbuilding.
In California, officials expanded evacuations around a wildfire that had destroyed 10 buildings in rural Northern California.
More than 200 wildfires were burning in the Canadian province of British Columbia, forcing thousands to flee.
And in Nevada, fire officials have ordered evacuations for a wildfire that is near the same area where another blaze has already burned for days. Officials said a dozen homes are threatened but that the situation benefited from having firefighters nearby.
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9:55 a.m.
California crews are hoping slightly cooler temperatures and diminishing winds will help in the battle against three major wildfires that have destroyed structures, closed a highway and forced evacuations.
One of two fires raging in Santa Barbara County grew to 12 square miles (31 square kilometers) early Sunday, traversing a mountain range and heading south toward coastal Goleta. There is minimal containment and flames have shut down State Route 154.
County fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni says crews will use air tankers to attack that fire and another one about 50 miles north that exploded in size to 37.5 square miles (97 square kilometers).
At least 10 buildings have burned in a blaze in Northern California’s rural Butte County that has forced 3,500 people from homes.
In Wyoming, fire managers say good weather has helped them make progress fighting a wildfire burning in beetle-killed trees.
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8 a.m.
Wildfires barreled across the baking landscape of the western U.S. and Canada, destroying a smattering of homes, forcing thousands to flee and temporarily trapping children and counselors at a California campground.
A pair of wildfires egged on by record-breaking heat in Southern California quickly spread, threatening hundreds of homes and forcing evacuations at a popular lakeside campground and a summer camp.
In Northern California, a Butte County wildfire swept through grassy foothills and destroyed 10 structures, including homes, and led to several minor injuries.
Firefighters were contending with nearly 200 wildfires burning in British Columbia that had destroyed dozens of buildings, including several homes and two airport hangars.
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10 p.m. SATURDAY
A pair of California wildfires have quickly spread, threatening hundreds of homes and forcing evacuations at a popular lakeside campground and a summer camp where flames temporarily trapped children and counselors, a fire official said.
The fire that started early Saturday afternoon in Santa Barbara County had spread to both sides of Highway 154 and was “completely out of control,” county fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni said. About 90 children and 50 counselors were struck at the Circle V Ranch and had to take shelter there until they could be safely evacuated.
In other parts of the West, evacuation orders were lifted in Colorado and Montana towns threatened by wildfires, while air and ground crews battled a growing grass fire in northwestern Colorado.
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