US firefighters begin to control California's largest wildfire so far this year, halting its eastward expansion toward nearby Yosemite National Park, officials say
Some 2,500 firefighters backed by 17 helicopters have been deployed against the Oak Fire, which has forced around 3,000 people to evacuate.
But firefighters have not seen more of that so-called spotting, Cal Fire spokesperson Natasha Fouts said from the incident command centre in Merced, about 210 km inland from San Francisco. The northward direction of the fire was taking it into the Sierra National Forest but no longer in the direction of Yosemite, some 10 miles away. A grove of Yosemite's giant, ancient sequoia trees did come under threat from another wildfire weeks ago.
The fire had more than doubled in size from Saturday to Sunday. It was 10 percent contained on Monday compared to zero on Sunday.
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