Firefighters in California gained a foothold in the battle against a wildfire north of Los Angeles while weather officials on Tuesday issued red flag warnings across the Northeast where blazes turned deadly over the weekend .
The Mountain Fire in California’s Ventura County burned 20,630 acres of land as of Tuesday, an amount it has held near for several days after 80 mph winds fueled its explosive growth last week . As winds slowed, firefighters managed to bring the containment level to 48%, allowing officials to downgrade several evacuation orders. The fire has torched nearly 200 homes and businesses, injured six people and threatened thousands of structures.
In the Northeast, weather officials issued red flag warnings from New Jersey to Massachusetts after a bout of modest weekend rainfall failed to douse the region’s wildfire threat.
Up to 0.30 inches of rain fell on Sunday, marking the first rainfall in over a month in parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, but the dry soil and leaves quickly absorbed the rain and have again become fertile ground for fires, authorities said.