Gains made in fighting California wildfires as some residents return

Fire officials say the two blazes, which have killed five people, highlight the severity in drought-stricken California of an intense wildfire season that in the coming weeks could become one of the state's fiercest on record. The so-called Valley Fire, which is north of the wine-producing region of Napa Valley, has burned 74,500 acres (29,946 hectares), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), or more than double the size of San Francisco. Authorities on Saturday allowed people to return home to Middletown, a community of 1,300 people evacuated a week ago that was scarred by the fire, with hundreds of homes destroyed, said Cal Fire captain Richard Cordova.

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