Crews hope better weather will aid in battling Calif. wildfire

LOS ANGELES — Crews hoped to take advantage of improved weather conditions on Friday to stop a raging Northern California wildfire before it claims 12,000 homes in the path of the flames that have already charred nearly 120 square miles of drought-parched forest land.

Some 4,400 firefighters have been deployed against the so-called King Fire, which officials say is the most dangerous of 11 major wildfires raging across California, but they had cut containment lines around just 10 percent of the flames burning through heavy timber and steep terrain as of Friday morning.

The fire has charred more than 76,000 acres of state land in the El Dorado National Forest northeast of Sacramento, but officials say they believe no homes have yet been lost.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said about 2,800 people had been evacuated from the area and 12,000 homes and 9,000 other structures remained under threat.

Fire officials said a break in the heat wave that has baked much of California for a week, higher humidity and cloud cover helped firefighters make progress. Officials cautioned, however, that forecasts of high temperatures and low humidity later on Friday or Saturday could fan the blaze into a more active state.

Prosecutors in El Dorado county charged a man with arson on Thursday in connection with the King Fire, saying in a criminal complaint that he “willfully and maliciously” set ablaze forest land in the area.

Wayne Allen Huntsman, 37, was jailed in El Dorado County on $10 million bail and was scheduled to be arraigned Friday.

He faces a forest arson charge, along with a special allegation of arson with aggravating factors because the blaze put a dozen firefighters in serious danger, forcing them to deploy their fire shields. They all escaped unharmed.

District Attorney Vern Pierson declined to say what led to Huntsman’s arrest this week in Placerville.

Huntsman’s sister, Tami Criswell, said she doubts her brother started the fire but if he did, it wasn’t on purpose. Criswell said her brother, who has worked in construction and private security, loves being in the forest and always was cautious with campfires.

Santa Cruz authorities have a $5,000 warrant out for Huntsman stemming from a February 2013 arrest for resisting or obstructing a public officer. Officials said he has missed several court dates. His arrest record in Santa Cruz dates back to 1996, according to court records.

This year’s California fire season, which traditionally runs from May to October, is on track to be the most destructive on record, state officials say. The most populous U.S. state is suffering through a devastating three years of drought, which has dried out brush and trees, helping fuel the flames.

In the El Dorado National Forest, a popular destination for outdoors enthusiasts, numerous campgrounds and Highway 50 were closed, and two shelters were opened for residents forced to flee their homes. Two firefighters suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Crews halted the advance of another fire hundreds of miles to the north in the Cascade range on Tuesday, but not before 150 buildings were lost in the town of Weed near Mount Shasta and the Oregon border.

Police said two churches and a sawmill were among the buildings damaged or destroyed in the historic logging town of 3,000 people.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Additional reporting for Reuters by Daniel Wallis in Denver and Curtis Skinner in San Francisco.