Almost a dozen major wildfires across California have forced hundreds of people to flee after destroying dozens of homes and structures and charring thousands of acres of forest land, according to The Associated Press.
The most destructive of the 11 blazes, the Courtney Fire, quickly blackened 320 acres east of Yosemite after it erupted on Sunday, burning several homes to the ground, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the AP reported.
Some 1,000 residents in and around the foothill community of Oakhurst and near Bass Lake were evacuated ahead of the flames, which were 20 percent contained by Monday morning as California baked in a heat wave that drove temperatures into triple digits, according to the AP.
About 800 firefighters were battling a 3,900-acre blaze up north called the King Fire, raging in heavy timber and steep terrain in El Dorado County, the AP reported.
Nearly 250 homes were under a mandatory evacuation order, while residents of another 400 houses were advised they could voluntarily leave, the county sheriff's office said, according to the AP.
Cal Fire reported one injury associated with the fire, which was 10 percent contained and spreading rapidly on Monday, but further details were not immediately available, the AP reported.
Authorities near Los Angeles lifted an evacuation order on Sunday as firefighters made headway against a 1,600-acre wildfire that forced hundreds of people to flee their homes as it swept through drought-stricken woods, according to the AP.
More than 1,000 firefighters backed by nine helicopters worked around the clock to contain the Silverado Fire, which broke out Friday in the Cleveland National Forest and spread rapidly on Saturday, the AP reported.
A mandatory evacuation order affecting 217 homes in and around Silverado Canyon, a gorge in the Santa Ana Mountains, was lifted on Sunday, though the area remained closed to non-residents, the Orange County Sheriff's Department said, according to the AP.
