A wind-driven wildfire in rural central California has forced mandatory evacuations and threatened hundreds of buildings, including a historic railroad station, after it tripled in size, officials say.
The blaze burning through chaparral bush and shrub oak had scorched 11 square kilometres in the small town of Bishop on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada that is popular for hiking, fishing, climbing and hunting.
It came as California saw record-high temperatures and little rain after emerging from a five-year drought, helping fuel some of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in state history late last year. US drought monitors this month declared parts of Southern California back in severe drought.
In the most recent fire, several communities and campgrounds in the Pleasant Valley Reservoir area were ordered to leave and persistent winds were expected to pose a challenge, said Cathey Mattingly, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
It was not clear how many people had to evacuate after the blaze started Sunday, Inyo County sheriff's spokeswoman Carma Roper said. But at least 500 structures were threatened, including the Laws Railroad Museum, a railroad station built in the 1880s.
The fire broke out near the Pleasant Valley Reservoir on Sunday and quickly grew.
