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 The blaze, dubbed the Rocky Fire, has charred some 67,000 acres,
destroyed more than 50 buildings and displaced thousands of
residents since erupting last week in the rugged canyons and
foothills east of the town of Clearlake, about 110 miles north of
San Francisco.
Nearly 7,000 structures, mostly homes, were listed as threatened,
with more than 13,000 people placed under evacuation orders or
advisories, according to the California Department of Forestry and
Fire Prevention (Cal Fire).
What sparked the Rocky Fire was uncertain, but the blaze is one of
nearly two dozen conflagrations that erupted across the state
following thousands of dry lightning strikes in recent days, the
bulk of them in northern California.
All of the blazes have been fed by thickets of vegetation left
desiccated by four years of drought.
Firefighters reported gains battling the Rocky Fire, which is 20
percent contained, as triple-digit temperatures abated and light
rain fell Tuesday afternoon.
But Wednesday's forecast was to bring hotter, drier conditions, Cal
Fire said, "increasing the potential of extreme fire behavior".
The number of structures listed as destroyed by the aggressive blaze
would likely increase as damage assessment teams are able to access
burned areas in coming days, the agency said.
Property losses from the Rocky Fire stood at 24 homes and 26
outbuildings, Cal Fire said.
Smoke from the blaze was visible up to 80 miles to the south in
Napa, one of California's renowned wine-making regions.
Cal Fire resources already were stretched with more than 10,000
firefighters on the front lines statewide and all off-duty personnel
called back to work.
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At least 3,200 firefighters were assigned to the Rocky Fire alone,
backed by 19 water-dropping helicopters, four air tankers and nearly
60 bulldozers, Cal Fire reported.
The aggressive blaze jumped a state highway on Monday that crews had
hoped would serve as a containment line, and a portion of that
corridor, as well as another highway, remain closed, Cal Fire said.
President Barack Obama was briefed on the fires on Tuesday, the
White House said. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency
late last week.
No serious injuries have been reported from the Rocky Fire. But a
U.S. Forest Service ranger from South Dakota died last Thursday in a
separate, smaller fire in the Modoc National Forest near
California's border with Oregon.
(Additional reporting by Victoria Cavaliere, Writing by Steve Gorman
from Los Angeles; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Himani Sarkar)
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