Authorities lifted an evacuation order Monday as firefighters cleared vegetation around homes in Shasta County that had been threatened when weekend lightning strikes ignited more than 40 blazes.
The mandatory evacuation went into effect Sunday for Big Eddy Estates and Sam Wolfin Springs in the county 160 miles north of Sacramento.
Fire officials said the blazes in the area had burned about 1,500 acres and were 10 percent contained. Twelve fires had been fully contained.
The American Red Cross helped house five people in an elementary school gym Sunday night, said Nancy Geer, a volunteer with the Shasta-area Red Cross office.
Crews also were fighting blazes in Lassen and Tuolumne counties.
A 1,000-acre fire was burning in Lassen National Forest along Highway 89, which prompted the temporary closure of a stretch of the road. A 1,600-acre fire in the county was 50 percent contained, with full containment expected by Friday.
The chance of more lightning had decreased, but firefighters battling the Lassen County fires were bracing for windy conditions Tuesday that could spread the flames, said Jeff Fontana with the Bureau of Land Management.
In Stanislaus National Forest in Tuolumne County, a fire that began July 26 had grown to 4,600 acres as firefighters struggled in steep, rugged terrain, CalFire spokeswoman Nancy Longmore said.
Three people have been injured, including a firefighter who broke his foot.
Crews helped by low temperatures, relatively calm winds and high humidity had the fire 40 percent contained, Longmore said.
"If we can get through today without anything going awry, then we're going to be in very good shape," she said.
The cause was under investigation.
Cindy Nugent, general manager of Calaveras Timber Trails, an RV campground in Avery, said a few people left last week because of the smoke, but business was otherwise not affected.
"It's very smoky and hazy in the mornings, and then as the day progresses it clears up pretty good," she said.
3,000 evacuated in British Columbia
Almost 3,000 people have been evacuated since Sunday and 85 percent of British Columbia remains on high alert as lighting strikes and tinder-dry forests continue to fuel wildfires on Canada's Pacific coast.
British Columbia Forest Service spokeswoman Alyson Couch said Monday conditions remain hot and dry. She said extra firefighters from across Canada, and some from Australia, are joining those already in the forests.
Couch said people have been asked to stay out of the backcountry to cut the risk of human-caused blazes. Authorities have banned campfires and open burning across British Columbia.