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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Officials say a raging wildfire in rural Northern California that has already spread over 5 square miles and forced the evacuation of 200 homes in Napa County is still growing.

State fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said Wednesday that the Butts Fire in remote Pope Valley has now grown to 3,800 acres from 3,200 acres.

He says that fire activity increased around noon while temperatures soared into the 90s as the blaze continued burning northeast into neighboring Lake County.

Berlant adds that more bulldozers have been requested to help crews strengthen containment lines.

The fire has already damaged one home and four outbuildings. In addition to the mandatory evacuations, another 180 homes were threatened.

The fire is not threatening any major vineyards.

No injuries have been reported, and the cause of the fire remains unknown.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Tim Howard left a lasting impression on Americans from coast to coast — and fans around the world, really — for his incredible, improbable saves in the loss to Belgium in extra time that sent the U.S. home from the World Cup to a country captivated.

Howard is a big reason — 6-foot-3, to be exact — for the fascination. He has become a Twitter sensation in less than a day, while raising one important question before he leaves Brazil: Will the 35-year-old goalkeeper be back for the next World Cup four years from now in Russia?

"When you're in the public eye, it's part of what you have to deal with," Howard said Wednesday of the hype from his record-setting World Cup. "I've been dealing with it for a long time. It's nice that America knows about soccer now. That's what's important."

Howard's 16 saves in the 2-1 loss were the most in a World Cup game since FIFA started tracking the statistic in 2002.

Someone had fun with Howard's heroics on Wikipedia, briefly listing the star goalie as incumbent "Secretary of Defense of the United States of America." Later, the real defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, called Howard with congratulations and a team invite to the Pentagon.

A photo from Howard's high school yearbook even began circulating, featuring the quote, "It will take a nation of millions to hold me back."

Even Belgium captain Vincent Kompany tweeted: "Two words.. TIM HOWARD #Respect #BelUSA." That post had received 59,675 re-tweets and 45,242 favorites by early evening Wednesday.

"It's fantastic because it also shows how all the games in the World Cup were received back at home," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said, "and many people watched this competition maybe more than it was four years ago in South Africa. It's fun to see that, and he deserves every compliment for his game last night."

The hashtag ThingsTimHowardCouldSave was trending on Twitter, and fans superimposed his image into all sorts of famous scenes. There's an outstretched Howard preventing the Titanic from sinking, and breaking up Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal.

"With social media, nothing surprises me," Howard said. "There are some very creative and fun individuals out there."

The team was scheduled to fly back to the U.S. late Wednesday, and Howard soon will return to his Premier League club, Everton.

Millions of Americans will be rooting for Howard to play in the 2018 World Cup. That's something Howard will discuss with those close to him.

"What happens going forward with the national team, I don't know," he said. "I don't think it's very black and white, to be honest. I need to figure all that out."

Howard had 15 shutouts — one behind co-leaders Petr Cech of Chelsea and Wojciech Szczesny of Arsenal — in 37 league matches for Everton this season before joining the Americans in mid-May for training camp in Northern California. In the spring, he signed a two-year contract extension through 2018 and is likely to close out his career with Everton.

"He was fantastic. There's no other way to put it," midfielder Michael Bradley said. "He's somebody that we rely on so much for his performances on the field but also his leadership and his presence. So honestly, there's not enough good things to say about him as a player, as a man, as a leader."

Klinsmann knows how much he meant for the Americans reaching back-to-back World Cup knockout rounds.

"I'm lucky to be in a long line of great goalkeepers," Howard said when asked about his legacy. "I don't think you can ever prepare yourself for those types of performances."

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AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists who reported that they'd found a startlingly simple way to make stem cells withdrew that claim Wednesday, admitting to "extensive" errors in the research.

In two papers published in January in the journal Nature, the researchers said that they'd been able to transform ordinary mouse cells into versatile stem cells by exposing them to a mildly acidic environment. Scientists hope to harness stem cells to grow replacement tissue for treating a variety of diseases.

While scientists have long been able to perform such transformations with a different method, the newly reported technique was far simpler, and the paper gained wide notice — and some skepticism — in the research community. It was also widely reported in the media, including by The Associated Press.

But before long, the government-funded Riken Center for Developmental Biology in Japan accused one of its scientists, Haruko Obokata, of falsifying data in the research. She was key author of the papers.

On Wednesday, Nature released a statement from Obokata and the other authors of the papers that withdrew the papers. The scientists acknowledged "extensive" errors that meant "we are unable to say without a doubt" that the method works. They noted that studies of the simpler method are still going on by other researchers.

Dr. Charles Vacanti of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, another main author, issued a separate statement in which he said he believes the further studies will vindicate the method, which produced what the authors called STAP cells.

But another author, Yoshiki Sasai, deputy director of the Riken center, said the errors in the papers meant "it has become increasingly difficult to call the STAP phenomenon even a promising hypothesis." In a statement issued by Riken, he said he was "deeply ashamed" of the problems in the papers.

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Online:

Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature

On Tuesday, Argentinian World Cup fans are descending on Sao Paulo, Brazil. Love them or loathe them, these fans are renowned for both their passion and rowdiness.