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Heat, lightning fears for US firefighters

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The Caldor Fire near Lake Tahoe remains 50 per cent contained.
Camera IconThe Caldor Fire near Lake Tahoe remains 50 per cent contained. Credit: AP

A risk of dry lightning amid hot, dry conditions is more bad news for California's firefighters, who already have their hands full with wildfires that have been burning for weeks.

A National Weather Service heat advisory stretched down the Central Valley and through inland southern California, with an excessive heat warning extending eastward across the desert into Nevada.

A fire weather watch was issued for Thursday evening through Friday evening in much of the interior of northern California due to a weather system that is expected to bring a chance of thunderstorms with lightning and erratic gusts.

"The combination of possible dry lightning as well as strong winds with the dry fuels could lead to critical fire weather conditions," forecasters said.

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Nearly 15,000 firefighters were making progress on 14 major wildfires and several smaller new fires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

In the northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades region, the second-largest fire in California history has scorched nearly 3732 square kilometres.

The Dixie Fire was 59 per cent contained. More than 1280 structures have been destroyed, including 688 homes.

To the south in the Sierra near Lake Tahoe, the nearly 880 sq km Caldor Fire remained 50 per cent contained.

Firefighters have had enough success against the state's 15th-largest fire that residents of the city of South Lake Tahoe were allowed to return home last weekend.

Nearly 1000 structures have been counted destroyed, including 776 single-family homes.

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