What to Know
- The Thompson Fire is burning in the Oroville area about 70 miles north of Sacramento.
- The wildfire started Tuesday during a week of hot and dry conditions in California.
- Thousands of people are under evacuation orders.
Thousands of people were under evacuation orders in Northern California's Butte County Wednesday after a fast-moving wildfire grew to more than 3,000 acres.
Firefighters are working to protect homes from the Thompson Fire, which started Tuesday near Oroville, about 70 miles north of Sacramento, during a week of extreme heat throughout the state. Several residences have already been destroyed, but there were no reports of injuries early Wednesday.
About 13,000 people were ordered to evacuate.
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A state of emergency was declared in the community of about 20,000 people. The office of Gov. Gavin Newsom announced late Tuesday that federal funds were approved to help firefighters, who are facing hot and dry conditions.
Temperatures around 100 degrees are in the forecast. Similar weather conditions are in the holiday week forecast for Southern California, raising the wildfire threat.
So far this year in California, wildfires have burned nearly 134,000 acres, a staggering increase from this time last year when fires burned 7,600 acres, according to Cal Fire estimates.
