Firefighters make headway against Sacramento-area wildfire

SACRAMENTO Calif. (Reuters) - Firefighters made progress on Friday against a major wildfire burning northeast of Sacramento that destroyed six homes and charred 420 acres, allowing some residents to return to their homes near the community of Applegate. With slowing winds aiding the efforts, more than 1,400 firefighters aimed to cut off the blaze before it could burn through a canyon and threaten additional communities. "Things are looking very positive," said Lynne Tolmachoff, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (CalFire). The Applegate Fire threatened about 1,000 homes and was 30 percent contained early Friday, she said. The fire, which started as five to seven separate blazes along Interstate 80 on Wednesday, prompted evacuations and the closure of all but one lane of I-80 eastbound. Also on Friday, the department cleared for use its firefighting air tankers, which had been grounded for safety investigations after a pilot was killed this week in a crash while battling the fierce Dog Rock Fire in Yosemite National Park, Tolmachoff said. That fire, started by sparks from a vehicle, knocked out power to the Yosemite Valley and had blackened 311 acres by Friday morning, said Gary Wuchner, a fire information specialist with Yosemite National Park. Crews were working to restore power by reinstalling transmission lines, but progress was slow, Wuchner said, because of steep, rocky terrain and the closure of Highway 140 into the park. "We anticipate power either today or tomorrow if everything goes well," Wuchner said. Friday was the fourth day that power was out for hotels, businesses and residents in the Yosemite Valley, he said. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Jim Loney)