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Firefighters have gained ground in the fight against the Caldor Fire, which have been threatening South Lake Tahoe in California.
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Lighter winds and higher humidity have made for a favourable environment for fire crews to take advantage in the fight.
As such, they have gained ground by dropping fire retardant and water galore to keep the fire's advance to a couple of thousand acres, marking the smallest increase of the fire's spread in two weeks.
The northeast section of the immense Sierra Nevada blaze was still within a few miles of South Lake Tahoe and the Nevada state line. But fire officials said it hadn't made any significant advances in the past few days, and containing the conflagration would be less challenging.
While there is still no timeline set for the return of 22,000 South Lake Tahoe residents, the satisfactory progress reported in containing the Caldor Fire has now raised hope that they will be able to return in phases.
The Caldor fire was named after the road through which it raged when it first started. The topography - rugged terrain, coupled with forested areas - had enabled the spread of that fire. So far, the fire has decimated some 900 homes, businesses and other buildings. For this reason, it is still considered a threat to more than 30,000 more structures.
Thanks to climate change, wildfires this year have been more destructive, and have consequently incinerated several mountain hamlets and at least 1,500 homes.
Scientists have warned of more extreme weather and record-breaking wildfires becoming more commonplace and unpredictable.
But thus far, no deaths have been reported this fire season.
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