REDDING, Calif. (AP) -- More than 1,000 firefighters battled a wind-driven wildfire that roared through an old mining town in Northern California, destroying more than 20 homes and forcing 300 residents to evacuate.
The blaze broke out Saturday afternoon and quickly grew to more than 7,700 acres by Sunday night, sweeping through the mountain community of French Gulch about 19 miles west of Redding, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Fanned by wind up to 12 mph, the fire threatened 150 other homes and 10 commercial buildings. A portion of state Highway 299 was closed.
Firefighters, including about 400 state prison inmates, saved several buildings including a church, post office, hotel and elementary school. Two commercial buildings were destroyed.
By Sunday night, the fire was just 10 percent contained, and fire officials predicted that it would not be fully contained until Friday. The fire was moving north toward an area with few homes.
``It's rugged, rugged country,'' said Brian Morris, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. ``It's dry country. We've had some winds today. They have not been very bad, but they have hindered our efforts at control.''
The fire's cause was still under investigation. No injuries were reported, Morris said.
Wes Lusk, 66, a French Gulch resident for four years, heard about the blaze while driving home from Oreon Sunday morning.
``The message I got was, 'I think your house burned down.' That's a heck of a thing to hear when you're 300 miles away,'' Lusk said Sunday. He was relieved to learn that his house hadn't been damaged. ``It's a heck of a big load off you.''
Other fires in the state included an 11,000-acre blaze that destroyed 80 homes, 30 outbuildings and 10 vehicles in the hills south of Shasta Lake, about 140 miles northwest of Sacramento.
The Shasta Lake fire was 95 percent contained and full containment was expected by Monday night, said Roy Del Carlo, a CDF spokesman. Most residents had been allowed to return home.
Near Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, a 3,000-acre blaze was threatening 80 homes and 20 commercial buildings, said California Department of Forestry spokeswoman Karen Terrill. The fire was about 30 percent contained Sunday evening, Terrill said.
In central Washington state, roughly 400 homes were ordered evacuated in the community of Dryden because of a rapidly growing wildfire.
``The fire likes those conditions. It makes it burn very hot, very fast,'' said Carol Tocco, spokeswoman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland, Ore.
The latest evacuations were ordered by Chelan County sheriff's deputies Sunday, a day after the Fischer fire jumped a road, resulting in an evacuation warning covering at least 100 homes. Earlier evacuation orders covered about 30 homes.
In neighboring British Columbia, 70 new wildfires were reported over the weekend, including 40 burns in the eastern Fraser Valley about 70 miles east of Vancouver and one near the Hell's Gate tram, a popular tourist attraction in the Fraser Canyon north of Hope.
