Northern California wildfire does not grow but winds and hot weather could whip up flames

OROVILLE, California — The teams made steady progress overnight against a Wildfire in Northern California Thousands of people have been evacuated, but gusty winds and persistent high temperatures on Thursday could pose problems on a scorching Fourth of July, officials said.

The Thompson Fire near the city of Oroville in Butte County remained about the same size and was still 7% contained, the same as Wednesday night, said Kevin Colburn, public information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

Some 26,000 people have been placed under evacuation orders or warnings, but this number could drop as emergency services conduct new assessments.

“We’re going to evaluate and see if we can open up some areas,” Colburn said.

The Thompson fire broke out Tuesday afternoon about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Sacramento, sending up a huge plume of smoke that could have seen from space when it grew to an area of ​​more than 14 square kilometers.

An Associated Press photographer watched as three adjacent homes in Oroville went up in flames.

The fire ignited blades of grass sticking out from the concrete curbs of Lake Oroville, while high winds blew American flags into the air along a bend in the state’s second-largest reservoir and the nation’s tallest dam.

Residents standing on the slopes watched the orange glow as planes dropped water. A team of more than a dozen firefighters saved a house as goats and other farm animals fled. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

According to Cal Fire, about a dozen other fires, most of them small, are burning across the state.