LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — Aided by slightly cooler temperatures, firefighters made more progress Sunday as they worked to subdue a wildfire that has burned across more than 35 square miles in Southern California.

Lynne Tolmachoff, a California fire official, said the Holy Fire is 41 percent contained.

Tolmachoff said temperatures that have declined from triple digits to the 80s and 90s are helping firefighters advance on the blaze.

The Holy Fire — named for Holy Jim Canyon, where it began last Monday — has destroyed 16 structures. It is one of nearly 20 blazes burning across California.

The state is seeing earlier, longer, and more destructive wildfire seasons because of drought, warmer weather attributed to climate change, and home construction deeper into forests.

The largest fire ever recorded in California — the Mendocino Complex — is burning north of Sacramento and has destroyed 119 homes but none in recent days. The two-week-old Carr Fire that killed eight people and burned more than 1,000 homes was 55 percent contained.

Elsewhere in the West, a firefighter was injured Saturday and residents in parts of two Washington state cities were told to evacuate due to a growing wildfire.

Associated Press