"Flames raged unchecked for a second day through tinder-dry brush and scrub oak in Northern California's ranch country on Thursday after destroying three homes and forcing hundreds of residents to flee, as firefighters sought to benefit from subsiding winds, officials said.

The blaze, which has scorched some 8,300 acres (34 square km) of California's rural Lake County, was one of 14 large conflagrations under attack by nearly 7,000 firefighters statewide, forestry authorities said.

To help reinforce thinly stretched resources, the California National Guard mobilized nine of its helicopters Thursday morning to help battle the fiercest fires, state emergency management officials said."

Curtis Skinner reports for Reuters July 31, 2015. [2]