Northern California wildfire spreads, with more hot weather expected

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Northern California Wildfire Spreads, With More Hot Weather Expected
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By Associated Press Reporters

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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