The death toll from Californias wildfires rose to 40 on Sunday but firefighters reported progress in battling the flames, and thousands of evacuees were gradually being allowed to return home.
The wealthiest US state regularly faces late-summer fires. But the blazes which have burned more than 217,500 acres (about 88,090 hectares) this month, and devastated the winemaking areas of Napa and Sonoma, proved the deadliest in the state's history.