Western wildfires leave 14,000 people under evacuation orders, but cooling weather starts to help

Foresthill, California — Firefighters made progress against a huge Northern California wildfire that was still growing and threatening thousands of mountain homes on Sunday, while crews also battled major blazes that blanketed large swaths of Oregon and Washington in smoke. Flooding, meanwhile, was the problem for some communities around Los Angeles as a long period of dry heat finally gave way, but was replaced by intense thunderstorms that covered roads with mud and water and left vehicles stranded.

The Mosquito Fire in foothills east of Sacramento spread to nearly 65 square miles, with 10% containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.   "Cooler temperatures and higher humidity assisted with moderating some fire activity," but higher winds allowed the flames to push to the north and northeast, according to a Cal Fire incident report Sunday.