California firefighters extinguish most blazes

San Francisco: Fire crews on Friday had extinguished all but 38 of the more than 2,000 blazes ignited in California over the past month, allowing most mandatory evacuations to be lifted so residents could return home for the weekend.

Flames swept through 3,660 square kilometres around the state after a lightning storm on June 20 sparked multiple fires. Officials have said the blazes have charred the most area and required the most resources in California history.

In the hilly range flanking the central coast near Big Sur, the flames swept over 200 518 square kilometres of heavily forested land, destroying 27 homes and 34 other structures.

That fire is 65 per cent contained, and most residents have been allowed to return home. But some cabins are still being kept empty until fire crews finish a backburn designed to clear fuel from the path of the fire.

The fire sweeping through northern California's Butte County, which had led to the evacuation of 10,000 people and one death, has been 85 per cent contained. Fifty homes and 10 outbuildings were destroyed along with 223 square kilometres of terrain.