A gargantuan blaze within Stanislaus National Forest has grown to more than 300 square miles, an update from the U.S. Forest Service reported Thursday, but the flames have begun to slow their rampage in a sign officials said was extremely encouraging.
The Rim Fire charred an additional 271 acres in a 12-hour span from Wedneday night to Thursday morning.
It has become the sixth-largest California fire in history since record keeping began in 1932, and the largest-ever wildfire within the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
For an inferno that had grown by as much as 3,000 acres an hour to slow to such a pace was described by fire officials as a point of confidence...