Crews gaining on huge Northern California wildfire
LAKEPORT, Calif. -- Firefighters are making significant progress in their battle against the massive, destructive Rocky Fire in Northern California.
It's been burning for a week about 100 miles north of San Francisco.
Crews say they now have a handle on the flames.
The fire is now 30 percent contained after burning nearly 70,000 acres.
But firefighters are very optimistic, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy.
It barely grew during a very hot day Wednesday and they feel they are gaining the upper hand.
Sixty members of the National Guard arrived in Lakeport late Wednesday night and will head out at daylight to put out hot spots. That work will take several more days.
The fire is expected to be fully contained by Monday.
Water dropping helicopters doused hot spots on charred hillsides while fire engines were staged along Highway 20, ready to attack any flare-ups in the hot afternoon sun.
"This fire is kind of specific," says Cal Fire's Jeff Shelton, a fire behavior specialist. "Usually, you get a fire that you start to get some kind of warnings, where it's almost like a dimmer switch on your light. This one seems to have an on/off switch."
Firefighters desperately want to prevent any further sudden growth. Newly-released photos and video taken by firefighters on the front lines show the Rocky Fire exploding since Friday last week, consuming tens of thousands of acres in just hours. A time-lapse map shows the blaze spreading quickly over the past seven days, now covering 109 square miles.
With the Rocky fire down but not out, it's still a waiting game for the thousands of people forced to evacuate and wondering when they can go home. For now, authorities are keeping evacuations in effect.
"I know they're trying to keep us safe, but I want to go home," one evacuee said.