California Wildfire Surpasses Last Year's Biggest Blaze

Two Northern California wildfires have merged to form one that exceeds the size of last year’s biggest blaze in the state, fire officials said Thursday morning.

The Caldwell fire ― which was previously being managed as two separate incidents ― has now burned than 79,000 acres near the town of Canby and the Modoc National Forest in the northeast corner of the state.

Combined with two smaller wildfires nearby, the cluster known as the July Complex fire has surpassed 81,000 acres.

While the incident is 45% contained, weather conditions could pose more challenges.