California wildfire ‘looking a whole heck of a lot better’

FORESTHILL, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters again prevented flames from entering a Northern California mountain town and reported major progress against the week-old blaze that’s become the largest in the state so far this year. A fire spokesperson said Thursday that conditions at the Mosquito Fire about 110 miles northeast of San Francisco are looking a lot better. Still, officials are concerned that an upcoming weather system might hamper additional firefighting efforts. Evacuation orders remain for some 11,000 residents because of the unpredictable nature of the winds. Meanwhile rescuers in mountains east of Los Angeles continued to search for a person missing in a mudslide that swept boulders down fire-scarred slopes and damaged or destroyed 30 homes earlier this week.