Destructive California wildfire burns on as weather heats up

By Dan Whitcomb (Reuters) - Crews fighting a California wildfire that has destroyed 10 homes and charred 28 square miles of forest land have made progress, but officials said on Monday the return of high temperatures and low humidity could fuel a new flare-up. The so-called King Fire, which broke out on Sept. 13, was burning through drought-parched timber and brush in the popular El Dorado National Forest and Tahoe National Forest, areas northeast of Sacramento. No residents have been hurt, said fire service spokesman Tom Piranio, but 2,800 people had been evacuated. Firefighters were only recently able to enter burned areas to report on the damage, he added. Police last week arrested 37-year-old Wayne Allen Huntsman on charges of arson, accusing him of starting the fire, one of six major blazes burning across California during the state's third year of devastating drought. Huntsman pleaded not guilty on Friday and was being held in lieu of $10 million bail. The criminal complaint lists previous convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, theft and receiving stolen property. Some 5,500 firefighters had cut containment lines around 18 percent of the blaze as of Monday morning, up from 10 percent a day earlier, according to the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Rain and lower temperatures have helped firefighters make some progress against the flames, but some 12,000 homes and 9,000 other structures were still under threat and Cal Fire said a turn in the weather could hamper their efforts. "The fire has crossed into Placer County and has burned onto the Tahoe National Forest," the agency said in a statement on its website. "The fire may become very active today with the return of high temperatures and lower humidity." Organizers of two Ironman triathlon events scheduled for Sunday at nearby Lake Tahoe canceled them over the weekend, citing exceedingly poor air quality caused by smoke from the fire. This year's California fire season, which traditionally runs from May to October, is on track to be the most destructive on record, intensified at least in part by the record drought, state officials say. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Curtis Skinner and Kevin Murphy; Editing by Peter Cooney)