Crews gain on wildfire that tore through California town

(AP) — Crews gained ground on a massive wildfire that destroyed 175 homes, businesses and other structures in a small California town while charring nearly 7 square miles, fire officials said Tuesday.

"Mr. Pashilk committed a horrific crime and we will seek prosecution to the fullest extent of the law," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Director Ken Pimlott said.

Roughly 1,600 firefighters were battling the Lower Lake blaze amid warm temperatures and light winds.

The flames tore through the town's historic Main Street, where firefighters couldn't save an office of Habitat for Humanity that was raising money to help rebuild homes in nearby communities that were hit by fire a year ago.

Lower Lake is home to about 1,300 mostly working class people and retirees who are drawn by its rustic charm and housing prices that are lower than the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Lower Lake blaze is among a half-dozen large wildfires burning in the state, including one that erupted Tuesday in the mountainous Cajon Pass area 60 miles east of Los Angeles and quickly grew to more than 1½ square miles.

The fire was started by an illegal campfire on July 22 and had burned more than 118 square miles, destroyed 57 homes and led to the death of a man in a bulldozer accident.

After 1,500 acres burned last year on the 1,700-acre ranch where Comstock grew up and still lives, he has cleared out brush to make fire breaks — a ritual familiar to other Californians who live in areas traditionally associated with wildfires.