The so-called Butte Fire, located east of the town of Jackson southeast of Sacramento, was a little more than 100 acres shortly after it broke out at around 2:26 p.m. Wednesday, and grew to around 4,000 acres by Thursday.
Over the day, and as temperatures soared, the fire grew to 14,700 acres, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire, said.
The fire had been 20 percent contained earlier Thursday, but by the evening it was only 10 percent contained, Cal Fire said.
The fire was "extremely active" Thursday, making substantial runs up a canyon and fueled by hot winds and high temperatures, a Cal Fire spokesman said.
At least six homes have been destroyed. There were mandatory evacuation orders for part of a subdivision and part of the town of Pine Grove, the department said. It was not immediately clear how many people were ordered to leave their homes.
A reporter for KCRA captured dramatic video of the fire as they drove near the blaze after it jumped a road and scorched a hillside Thursday, sending clouds of ash and smoke over the highway.
We just drove through intense fire on Hwy 26. It's jumped the road and blazing up the hillside. #buttefire pic.twitter.com/jAUJR6JRfM
— Brian Hickey (@kcraBrianHickey) September 10, 2015
Jeanie Link was among those ordered to leave her home. She took down photographs from her walls after a sheriff's deputy knocked on her door at 2:30 a.m., NBC station KCRA reported.
"We just ran through the house grabbing things," Link told the station. Some forced to leave were staying in campers and recreational vehicles in a supermarket parking lot in Jackson, the station reported.
California is in its fourth year of a historic drought, which has exacerbated wildfire conditions. Six air tankers and nearly 60 fire engines are battling the blaze, which was being fueled by high heat, and low humidity and was "expanding in all directions," Cal Fire said in a statement.
Much of California is in the midst of a heat wave — in addition to the ongoing drought — with temperatures in Jackson forecast to reach 100 degrees in Jackson Thursday and similar temperatures forecast for Friday.
Comment: All over the world we are witnessing extensive wildfires, which in some regions have been described as "unprecedented". The wildfire season in the US has worsened dramatically in recent years and 2015 is set to be the worst yet.
Could some of these wildfires have been fueled from outgassing, then possibly 'sparked' by an increase in atmospheric electric discharge events, such as lightning strikes? A wildfire in Utah last week was attributed to being 'sparked' by an underground transformer exploding, according to fire officials. See also:
Study: Wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth