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A firefighting air tanker drops fire retardant near a structure ahead of the County Fire on July 2, 2018, in Esparto. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
A firefighting air tanker drops fire retardant near a structure ahead of the County Fire on July 2, 2018, in Esparto. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Northern California Wildfire Threatening 1,400 Buildings Grows

Northern California Wildfire Threatening 1,400 Buildings Grows

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Updated Thursday, July 5 at 12:25 p.m.

Fire officials say cooler weather did little to diminish a massive blaze in Northern California threatening more than 1,400 buildings.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Thursday the County Fire burning northwest of Sacramento grew overnight to 134 square miles.

But Cal Fire says crews gained some ground and increased containment to 30 percent. That’s up from 25 percent the previous day.

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Roughly 2,500 people have been forced from their homes since the blaze started Saturday. Officials have lifted some mandatory evacuations but it’s not known how many people have been allowed to return home.

“The main challenges for this fire are the enormous size, combined with weather and terrain,” said Cal Fire public information officer Gabriel Lauderdale. ““We are expecting high heat again—the kind of circumstances that this fire grew under. So knowing that, we are trying to use this favorable weather condition that we have right now to improve the containment that we have.”

No structures have been damaged or destroyed.

More on the County Fire here.

KQED’s Shia Levitt contributed to the story.

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