San Francisco - Wildfires near northern California's popular Yosemite National Park were increasingly coming under control Wednesday, after days of round-the-clock work by nearly 4,000 firefighters.

A spokeswoman for California's state fire agency said that the situation had clearly improved. The fire raging since Friday in the Sierra Nevada mountains was nearly half contained as of Wednesday.

The latest official damage report included 21 homes and 33 other buildings destroyed, with 130 square kilometres of scorched forest. (dpa)