Northern California wildfire spreads, with more hot weather expected

Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate as firefighters try to keep flames from reaching homes.

Published Jul 3

Firefighters lined roads to keep flames from reaching homes as helicopters dropped water on a growing wildfire on Wednesday.

The wildfire in Northern California has forced at least 13,000 people to evacuate and another day of extreme heat is expected to come.

A huge fire with a helicopter dropping water overhead — A night-flying helicopter drops water on flames as the Thompson Fire continues to burn (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

The Thompson fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110km) north of Sacramento, in and around the city of Oroville, in Butte County.

It sent up a huge plume of smoke and grew to nearly 4.7 square miles (12.1 square kilometres) by Wednesday morning. It was 0% contained.

A group of firefighters with a hose pipe spray water out of shot — Firefighters have been responding but as of Wednesday, the fire, which stretches nearly 4.7 square miles, was 0% contained (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

The city of about 20,000 people declared a state of emergency on Tuesday night and several homes have been destroyed, KCRA-TV reported.

There was no word of injuries as two evacuation centres were set up in Butte County.

More high temperatures above 100F (37.8C) were forecast for Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

A wide shot showing an empty road and a large fire in the distance — Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate as firefighters tried to keep flames from reaching homes (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

On Tuesday, the governor’s office announced that federal funding had been approved to help with firefighting efforts.

Governor Gavin Newsom also activated the State Operations Centre to co-ordinate California’s response, dispatch mutual aid and support communities as they respond to threats of wildfire and excessive heat.