"A wildfire in Northern California swelled on Tuesday, as firefighters battled the blaze that threatened hundreds of homes and other structures, sending thick black smoke across the San Francisco Bay Area.

The County Fire, which broke out on Saturday afternoon in rural Yolo County, west of Sacramento, blackened more than 70,000 acres (28,800 hectares) of grass, brush and dense scrub oak. That was 17 percent more than the 60,000 acres (24,280 hectares) it had burned as of late Monday.

The United States is in the midst of an unusually active fire season, with the risk significantly above normal for many western states, according to federal forecasters."

Dan Whitcomb and Keith Coffman report for Reuters July 3, 2018. [2]