California wildfires: Firefighters make progress as retardant dropped on blaze

Firefighters reported significant progress in tackling a wildfire in Southern California on Friday (15 October), as the Alisal fire’s containment jumped to 41 per cent from just five per cent a day earlier.

The improved situation allowed authorities on Thursday evening to reopen the US 101 highway – which had been closed since Monday.

Santa Barbara County Fire Department has said that three homes and two outbuildings were destroyed by the fire, out of a total of 400 that were threatened.

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