Thousands of people evacuate as Northern California wildfire spreads

Firefighters lined roads to keep flames from reaching homes as helicopters dropped water on a growing wildfire Wednesday in Northern California that has forced at least 26,000 people to evacuate, as the state sweltered under extreme heat.

The Thompson fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110 kilometres) north of Sacramento, near the city of Oroville in Butte County. It sent up a huge plume of smoke that could be seen from space as it grew to more than 5.5 square miles (14 square kilometres). There was no containment.

But Oroville Mayor David Pittman said by Wednesday afternoon there had been a significant drop in the fire activity, and he was hopeful that some residents could soon be allowed to return home. The fire's progress was stopped along the southern edge and firefighters working in steep terrain were trying to build containment lines on the northern side.

"On that north side they have some real struggles in terms of the topography," Pittman said.

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