Los Angeles, Jul 11 (EFE).- Thousands of firefighters remained at work Tuesday battling flames across a large swath of the western United States, including California, where higher humidity and diminished winds were expected to make the task a little easier.
The Wall Fire, which has consumed 5,800 acres (23.5 sq. km.) and destroyed nearly 90 structures in Northern California’s Butte County, is 45 percent contained, the Cal Fire agency said.
“Firefighters are going to be constructing new lines around the fire. We are going to be looking for that containment percentage come up in the next operational period,” Cal Fire spokesman Gabe Lauderdale said.
Meanwhile, another blaze, dubbed the Farad Fire, erupted Monday afternoon in eastern California near Interstate 80 and the border with neighboring Nevada, forcing authorities to close the highway in both directions.
The Farad Fire has consumed 600 acres (2.4 sq. km.) and is only 10 percent contained, Cal Fire said.
In Santa Barbara County, on the Pacific coast, the Whittier Fire was about 25 percent contained early Tuesday.
Nevada firefighters said that the Aspen Fire, in Palomino Valley, had been 45 percent contained.
The Ana Fire, which has consumed some 6,200 acres (25 sq. km.) in the Summer Lake of south-central Oregon, is only 20 percent contained.
Most of the roughly 10,000 people evacuated because of the threat posed by the wildfires remain in shelters.