The Latest: All evacuations lifted for California blaze

LAKEPORT, Calif. (AP) -- The Latest on California wildfires (all times local):

3:05 p.m.

Officials have lifted all mandatory evacuation orders for a deadly blaze in Northern California that destroyed nearly 1,100 homes and killed eight people.

The California Department of Fire and Forestry Protection said Wednesday that people are now allowed back in the areas in and around the city of Redding that were impacted by the wildfire that has been burning for more than three weeks.

Cal Fire says some public lands will remain closed until a review of potential hazards is finished.

The blaze that was sparked on July 23 by the rim of a flat tire displaced 38,000 people.

It continued to burn Wednesday and was described as 67 percent contained.

It has charred 330 square miles (855 square kilometers).

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8:44 a.m.

Firefighters are battling the largest wildfire on record in California as foresters and other experts are working to repair the damage.

Crews doing "suppression repair" mitigate the damage caused not by flames but by the firefighters racing to extinguish them.

They seek to restore private lands, protect the environment and water supply, and prevent erosion that can lead to mudslides like the one that tore through a Santa Barbara-area community in January, killing nearly two dozen people.

It's a massive but often overlooked part of firefighting.

One day last week, dozens of pieces of heavy equipment did repairs at the Mendocino Complex Fire that has charred more than 550 square miles (1,425 square kilometers), an area nearly twice the size of New York City.