California fire will rage out of control until next month

FIREFIGHTERS said they have made good progress battling California’s largestever wildfire – but they do not expect to have it fully under control until September.

The blaze north of San Francisco has grown to the size of Los Angeles since it started two weeks ago, fuelled by dry vegetation, high winds and rugged terrain that made it too dangerous for a total of 14,000 firefighters to directly attack the flames.

Crews have managed to cut lines around half the fire to contain the flames, which now span 470 square miles, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The blaze about 100 miles north of San Fran has destroyed 116 homes and injured two firefighters.