Fire moves; threat to homes averted

YANKEE HILL, Calif. -- After a tense night of waiting to learn if their property had survived a devastating wildfire, Butte County residents forced to flee their homes were told Saturday they could return.

More than 40 of the people who evacuated some 400 homes had spent the night at a shelter at the Spring Valley School, where they anxiously awaited the addresses of homes that burned.

The 6,580-acre fire, which had burned at least 26 houses in the area 85 miles north of Sacramento, was one of three major fires burning in California's Sierra Nevada range. A fire 25 miles west of Lake Tahoe was mostly contained, and one in Calaveras County was moving away from homes.