Crews make progress in Calif. wildfires

BIG SUR, Calif., June 25 (UPI) -- With a smoky pall creating an eerie feel in Northern California, crews Wednesday were showing progress in their battles against scores of area wildfires.

With most of the wildfires contained to rural parts of California's northern counties, the imminent danger to homes, people and animals had been significantly reduced but a larger blaze near Big Sur, Calif., had destroyed or damaged 16 homes, the Los Angeles Times reported.

There, an 8,500-acre wildfire was burning in the Los Padres National Forest only weeks after a 60,000-acre fire had scorched the same area. In hard-hit Napa, Shasta, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, officials told the Times fires were either fully contained or close to being so.

Two larger fires in Butte County came close to joining Tuesday, which would cause fire crews problems but the Smoky and Little Smoky fires were halted by two water-bearing Blackhawk helicopters, the Chico (Calif.) Enterprise-Record reported.

Further north in Humboldt County, officials told The Eureka (Calif.) Reporter they were having a hard time procuring such helicopter from state officials to help them battle a 500-acre fire near Shelter Cove, Calif.