OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of people evacuated during a Northern California wildfire were allowed to return home Thursday afternoon as crews continued battling flames amid scorching heat, officials said.
Containment of the Thompson Fire near the city of Oroville in Butte County remained at 7%, the same as the previous night.
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OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of people evacuated during a Northern California wildfire were allowed to return home Thursday afternoon as crews continued battling flames amid scorching heat, officials said.
A plane drops retardant on a hillside during the Sharp Fire in Simi Valley, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
Firefighters keep watch on hot spots from the Sharp Fire in Simi Valley, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
An air tanker drops fire retardant while trying to keep the Grubbs Fire from spreading in the Palermo community of Butte County, Calif., on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Firefighters stopped the fire at around 10 acres. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A Cal Fire OV-10 air tactical aircraft releases a puff of smoke while guiding a fire retardant drop during the Thompson Fire, in Oroville, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) firefighting helicopter releases water over a hot spot while battling the Thompson Fire, in Oroville, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
The “vast majority” of the 17,000 people under evacuation orders or warnings were able to go home, said Kristi Olio, public information officer for Butte County. Previous reports of 26,000 people being under orders or warnings were inaccurate, she said, adding that the fire has unfolded so quickly that it has been difficult to get firm figures.
The Thompson Fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Sacramento, sending up a huge plume of smoke that could be seen from space. The fire had burned 5.9 square miles (15 square kilometers), up from 5.5 square miles (14 square kilometers) earlier Thursday.
But officials warned of hot temperatures that could hit 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius) with even hotter weather expected Friday and Saturday.
“The winds are slowly picking up,” said Chris Peterson, information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. “You add that with the heat and low humidity,” and the potential for volatile fire behavior grows.
Four structures were destroyed, and more than 12,000 were threatened. Cal Fire did not specify if the structures were homes, but an Associated Press photographer saw fire burn three adjacent suburban-style homes in Oroville.
Four firefighters reported injuries, all from heat. The cause of the blaze was being investigated.
The region is familiar with catastrophic events. The deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history nearly wiped out the town of Paradise in Butte County in 2018. And in 2017, both spillways of the Oroville Dam — the nation's tallest — failed, mandating the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people.
"We do it ‘well,’ I guess, is the word to say,” said Oroville Mayor David Pittman.
He said the 20,000 residents of Oroville have heeded evacuation warnings and stepped up to offer a place to stay and home-cooked meals for evacuees.
Millions of people across the U.S. are baking in a heat wave including in California, which is seeing “significantly more wildfire activity at this point” than in recent years, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said in a statement.
More than a dozen other blazes, most of them small, are active across the state, according to Cal Fire. The largest of those, the Basin Fire in Fresno County, was nearly 50% contained with 22 square miles (57 square kilometers) burned.
A helicopter drops water on a hillside during the Sharp Fire in Simi Valley, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
A plane drops retardant on a hillside during the Sharp Fire in Simi Valley, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
Firefighters keep watch on hot spots from the Sharp Fire in Simi Valley, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
An air tanker drops fire retardant while trying to keep the Grubbs Fire from spreading in the Palermo community of Butte County, Calif., on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Firefighters stopped the fire at around 10 acres. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A Cal Fire OV-10 air tactical aircraft releases a puff of smoke while guiding a fire retardant drop during the Thompson Fire, in Oroville, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) firefighting helicopter releases water over a hot spot while battling the Thompson Fire, in Oroville, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
PARIS (AP) — Voting has begun in mainland France on Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock.
French President Emmanuel Macron took a huge gamble in dissolving parliament and calling for the elections after his centrists were trounced in European elections on June 9.
The snap elections in this nuclear-armed nation will influence the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability, and they’re almost certain to undercut President Emmanuel Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency.
The first round on June 30 saw the largest gains ever for the anti-immigration, nationalist National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen.
A bit over 49 million people are registered to vote in the elections, which will determine which party controls the 577-member National Assembly, France's influential lower house of parliament, and who will be prime minister. If support is further eroded for Macron’s weak centrist majority, he will be forced to share power with parties opposed to most of his pro-business, pro-European Union policies.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal cast his ballot in the Paris suburb of Vanves Sunday morning.
Le Pen is not voting, because her district in northern France is not holding a second round after she won the seat outright last week. Across France, 76 other candidates secured seats in the first round, including 39 from her National Rally and 32 from the leftist New Popular Front alliance. Two candidates from Macron's centrists list also won their seats in the first round.
Racism and antisemitism have marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian cybercampaigns, and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked — highly unusual for France. The government is deploying 30,000 police on voting day.
The heightened tensions come while France is celebrating a very special summer: Paris is about to host exceptionally ambitious Olympic Games, the national soccer team reached the semifinal of the Euro 2024 championship, and the Tour de France is racing around the country alongside the Olympic torch.
The elections wrap up Sunday at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) in mainland France and on the island of Corsica. Initial polling projections are expected Sunday night, with early official results expected late Sunday and early Monday.
Voters residing in the Americas and in France’s overseas territories of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana and French Polynesia voted on Saturday.
The elections could leave France with its first far-right government since the Nazi occupation in World War II if the National Rally wins an absolute majority and its 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella becomes prime minister. The party came out on top in the previous week's first-round voting, followed by a coalition of center-left, hard-left and Green parties, and Macron’s centrist alliance.
But the outcome remains highly uncertain. Polls between the two rounds suggest that the National Rally may win the most seats in the 577-seat National Assembly but fall short of the 289 seats needed for a majority. That would still make history, if a party with historic links to xenophobia and downplaying the Holocaust, and long seen as a pariah, becomes France’s biggest political force.
If it wins the majority, Macron would be forced to share power in an awkward arrangement known in France as "cohabitation."
Another possibility is that no party has a majority, resulting in a hung parliament. That could prompt Macron to pursue coalition negotiations with the center-left or name a technocratic government with no political affiliations.
Both would be unprecedented for modern France, and make it more difficult for the European Union’s No. 2 economy to make bold decisions on arming Ukraine, reforming labor laws or reducing its huge deficit. Financial markets have been jittery since Macron surprised even his closest allies in June by announcing snap elections after the National Rally won the most seats for France in European Parliament elections.
Regardless of what happens, Macron said he won’t step down and will stay president until his term ends in 2027.
Many French voters, especially in small towns and rural areas, are frustrated with low incomes and a Paris political leadership seen as elitist and unconcerned with workers' day-to-day struggles. National Rally has connected with those voters, often by blaming immigration for France's problems, and has built up broad and deep support over the past decade.
Le Pen has softened many of the party's positions — she no longer calls for quitting NATO and the EU — to make it more electable. But the party’s core far-right values remain. It wants a referendum on whether being born in France is enough to merit citizenship, to curb rights of dual citizens, and give police more freedom to use weapons.
Surk reported from Nice, France.
Follow AP’s global election coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections/
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, leaves the polling booth before voting for the second round of the legislative election, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Vanves, outside Paris. Voting has begun in mainland France on Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (Alain Jocard, Pool via AP)
A couple walks past electoral posters showing far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella during second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Mittelschaeffolsheim , eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Voters stand in the polling booth during the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Paris. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
A couple leaves the voting station during the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Olwisheim , eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
A voter leaves the voting booth before voting in the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
A voter takes ballots before voting in the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
A woman casts her ballot in the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Local city officials prepare voting kits for the legislative election in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Voters face a decisive choice in the runoff Sunday of snap parliamentary elections that could produce the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Local city officials prepare voting kits for the legislative election in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Voters face a decisive choice in the runoff Sunday of snap parliamentary elections that could produce the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron reacts as he delivers a speech, Wednesday, June 12, 2024 in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron's expected political failure in decisive parliamentary elections Sunday may paralyze the country, weaken him abroad and overshadow his legacy, just as France is about to be in the global spotlight as host of the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
FILE - Far-right National Rally party president Jordan Bardella, right, leaves with far-right leader Marine Le Pen after a press conference, Monday, June 24, 2024 in Paris. Both Le Pen and Bardella have made clear that, in power, they would seek to rein-in Macron and exert themselves in defense, European and foreign affairs decision-making. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)
