Improved weather helps firefighters battling wildfire near rural community in northern California

PALERMO, Calif. (AP) — Improved weather conditions aided firefighters Tuesday as they battled a rural northern California wildfire that threatened the community of Palermo, which is near where the state’s deadliest wildfire struck six years ago.

The fire spread over about 1 square mile (2.6 square kilometers) in the initial hours Monday evening but was static overnight and containment reached 15%, said Capt. Dan Collins of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

Winds subsided, marine air brought some cooling and “the conditions are favorable for us this morning,” he said. An early start to aircraft operations was requested.

The cause of the blaze — dubbed the Apache Fire — was under investigation.

Evacuation orders were in effect for several areas but Collins did not know how many people were affected. Two unidentified structures were destroyed and one firefighter had a minor injury.

Palermo had a population of about 9,400 in the 2020 census. The town is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) north of Sacramento.

It is part of Butte County, which is also home to Paradise, where California’s deadliest wildfire killed 85 people and destroyed 11,000 homes in 2018.

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