More than 2,500 firefighters are working to fight the fire and thousands of people have left their homes due to the risk of spreading.  

On Saturday, a state of emergency was declared as a result of the serious situation, the fire had then destroyed about ten buildings and threatened thousands more. 

Stopped expansion

But Monday is described as a successful day in the fight.

Helicopters dropped 1.4 million liters of water on the fire, which slightly reduced its size, Reuters reports.

The firefighters also managed to stop the expansion east towards nearby Yosemite National Park.  

The fire activity is "not as extreme as it has been in recent days," according to an incident report from the local emergency services.

However, smoke from the fire has spread roughly 322 kilometers away to Lake Tahoe, TT reports. 

Unpredictable fires

Another large fire that earlier in July threatened the red mammoth trees in Yosemite, and moved towards the Sierra National Forest, is largely under control. 

In recent years, California has been hit by increasingly large and dangerous wildfires that have claimed the lives of residents.

Climate change has made the climate drier and warmer, which will bring more and more extreme and unpredictable fires in the future, experts warn according to AP.

See images from the extinguishing work in California in the clip:

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The huge masses of smoke are visible from space - see the satellite images.

Photo: Justin Sullivan/AFP/TT, Nasa