Fire crews focused on saving homes

LAKEPORT, Calif. (AP) – California fire officials say they are making progress as they battle several blazes burning in Northern California and that firefighters are focused on saving lives and homes.

Battalion Chief John Messina said Tuesday fire crews slowed the spread of one of the blazes into towns near Clear Lake, including Lakeport, a city of 5,000. He says the fire instead spread into the Mendocino National Forest.

Messina says fire crews focused their efforts on saving lives and homes and that’s why only 10 houses have been destroyed by two massive fires straddling Mendocino and Lake counties. No injuries have been reported.

But he told a community meeting in Lake County that people should remain vigilant because fires can easily jump containment lines.

The impoverished county about 110 miles (180 kilometers) northwest of Sacramento has been hit by several wildfires since 2015, when a wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least four people.