Firefighters battle twin blazes in northeastern California forests

Firefighters and aircraft worked Tuesday to halt the spread of two forest fires in rural northeastern California.

The Gold fire in northern Lassen County nearly doubled in size to 7 square miles south of the tiny Modoc County community of Adin, and there was zero containment.

Two firefighters were injured at that blaze Monday and were flown to a hospital in Redding, but there were no details early Tuesday on their conditions or what happened, said Alisha Herring, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Herring said damage to a fiber optic cable was interfering with communication.

In southern Lassen County, the Hog fire covered 12.5 square miles about 5 miles from the town of Susanville and was just 5% contained. The size of the fire was reduced from earlier reports after improved mapping, Cal Fire said.

The fire was a threat to about 170 buildings and some evacuation orders were in effect.

In central California, the week-old Mineral fire was 68% contained after scorching 44.5 square miles and destroying seven structures in the Diablo Range west of Coalinga.

Several smaller wildfires burned elsewhere in the state.