Firefighters Battle 2 Major Blazes in State

SAN FRANCISCO — Firefighters shimmied down from helicopters in Big Sur and were exploding fallen trees along mountain slopes in far Northern California on Sunday, trying to contain two large groups of wildfires in nearly inaccessible terrain.

More than 42,400 acres have burned in the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area about 200 miles north of San Francisco. Crews were blowing fire lines through trees felled by a windstorm several years earlier.

Another 300 firefighters arrived by Sunday, for a total of 1,350 fighting the northern fire, which was spreading northwest toward the Klamath National Forest.

More than 3,000 were in Big Sur, battling fires that have burned more than 24,000 acres of trees and brush and come within a mile of Tassajara Hot Springs, a scenic resort town.