California wildfire does not grow but winds and hot weather could whip up flames

Planes have been dropping retardant on the Thompson fire in hopes to stem the flames (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Crews made steady progress overnight against a Northern California wildfire that has thousands of people under evacuation orders, but wind gusts and continued hot temperatures on Thursday could pose problems on a searing hot July Fourth, officials said.

The Thompson Fire near the city of Oroville in Butte County stayed roughly the same size and containment was still 7%, which was the same as Wednesday night, said Kevin Colburn, information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), said.