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Wildfires cause evacuation of 1,000 residents in Central California

OAKHURST, Calif. - Two out-of-control wildfires in California forced hundreds of residents to flee from their homes on Sunday, including one near a lakeside resort town that has destroyed several structures, authorities said.

The blaze, sparked shortly after 1:30 p.m. near Bass Lake in Central California, prompted authorities to evacuate about 1,000 residents out of 400 homes, Madera County Sheriff's spokeswoman Erika Stuart said.

"I know 10 structures have been destroyed already," Stuart said.

The fire started off a country road between Oakhurst, a foothill community south of the entrance to Yosemite National Park, and Bass Lake and quickly grew to at least 320 acres, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said.

The area is a popular destination throughout the year.

Wildfire forces widespread evacuations in Southern California 01:51

"We have a lot of full-time residents as well as renters and people with vacation homes here," Stuart said.

Further north, a wildfire about 60 miles east of Sacramento forced the evacuation of 133 homes. El Dorado County Sheriff's officials said residents of another 406 homes were being told to prepare to flee.

Berlant said the blaze started in a remote area Saturday, but exploded on Sunday when it reached a canyon full of thick, dry brush. It has burned 4 square miles, and was 10 percent contained.

Meanwhile, a three-day-old wildfire in Southern California was 20 percent contained, but more than 200 homes remained evacuated near the Cleveland National Forest, authorities said.

More than 1,000 firefighters and fire personnel were battling the 2 ½-square-mile blaze that broke out Friday in Orange County's Silverado Canyon.

Six firefighters have suffered minor injuries, many of them heat-related as temperatures reach triple digits, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said.

"It's extremely rugged terrain and another extremely hot day," Concialdi said.

A heat wave is expected to last through Tuesday in Southern California, and a smoke advisory was in effect for parts of Riverside and Orange counties. The Cleveland National Forest sprawls over the rugged peaks of the Santa Ana Mountains, straddling the Orange and Riverside county line southeast of Los Angeles.

Berlant said crews were making progress on two wildfires that broke out Saturday in Northern California.

A wildfire in the Sierra Nevada foothills about halfway between Sacramento and Reno burned 250 acres, destroyed two homes and three outbuildings. The burned homes were in Alta Sierra, a community of some 6,000 people about five miles south of Grass Valley.

A 417-acre blaze in Mendocino County destroyed five structures and five outbuildings, according to CalFire. It was 50 percent contained.

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