FRENCH GULCH, Calif. (AP) — A northern California wildfire that destroyed 22 homes and two businesses in this historic gold mining town grew to nearly 10,000 acres Tuesday, but evacuated residents were able to return home.
The fire, burning about 140 miles northwest of Sacramento, had moved north of French Gulch and was 25 percent contained. Firefighters did not expect to fully contain the flames until Friday.
Evacuated families returned to town while utility crews sought to restore electricity and telephone service.
Two walls of flame roared through the community of 150 homes on Saturday, destroying one-sixth of its buildings. Firefighters managed to save an 1885-era hotel on the National Register of Historic Places, a school and the post office.
U.S. Forest Service spokesman Louis Haynes said the fire continues to burn into a heavily forested area with no homes.