Cooler weather has helped firefighters battle some of the largest and most ferocious wildfires in California history as authorities search for four missing people in one blaze.
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Containment ticked up on Tuesday for the second- and third-largest wildfires in recorded state history, which are burning in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.
Crews from half a dozen states helped fight about 24 major blazes across California sparked by lightning during a record heat wave.
No large population centres were reported threatened as higher relative humidity and gentler winds allowed more than 14,000 firefighters to carve out containment lines.
Four people were still reported missing after the fire known as the CZU Lightning Complex destroyed 330 homes and other structures, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Chief Deputy Chris Clark said.
Some authorities have blamed climate change for highly unusual blazes in coastal rainforests.
Four of the state's five largest wildfires have burned in the past three years, the largest of which was the Mendocino Complex fire in 2018, which blackened 186,000 hectares.
Since the dry-lightning siege began August 15, more than 13,000 strikes sparked fires burned across more than 505,860 hectares.
The fires are far from under control, with more than 230 strikes in the past 24 hours starting new blazes after more than 650 in the past 10 days, Cal Fire said.
At least seven people have died and more than 1400 homes and other structures have been destroyed.
Australian Associated Press
