California Wildfire Near Full Containment

A wildfire that has ravaged more than 4,200 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains neared full containment Tuesday, as firefighters took advantage of the coastal fog and cool temperatures.

By the morning of its sixth day, the blaze was 85 percent contained.

Favorable conditions on Monday allowed officials to release some firefighting personnel and allow hundreds of evacuees to return to their properties. The hardest-hit neighborhoods, however, remained closed because of safety hazards.

The blaze has destroyed at least three dozen homes and still threatened another 15 in the rural area between Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, about 15 miles south of San Jose.

About 2,600 firefighters remained at the scene, down from more than 3,000 at the height of the blaze, which has cost the state $11.2 million to fight. Seven firefighters have suffered minor injuries, officials said.

Investigators are still probing the cause of the fire, which broke out just as the state's unofficial fire season got under way in mid-May. The blaze erupted following the state's driest two-month period on record.