Detwiller Fire In Mariposa County Burns 11,000 Acres

UPDATE 5:51 p.m.: A wildfire in Mariposa County continues to burn without any containment. The so called Detwiller Fire is located east of Lake McClure, northwest of the city of Mariposa.

The fire tripled in size overnight and reached 11,000 acres by Monday evening, and has forced some evacuations.

Scott McClean with CAL FIRE says heavy grass, brought on by a wet winter, is helping spread the flames.

"This is what's kind of acting like a fuse," McClean says, "very easy to ignite, and it's burning into the chaparral, it's burning into chamise, it's burning into a lot of brush fields that haven't burned in quite some time. I understand there's a lot of dead oak in that area as well."

The fire has destroyed one structure and damaged another. No cause has been determined.

There have been more than 3,200 wildfires in California this year. That's about 800 more than during the same period last year.

UPDATE 7:40 a.m.: (AP) - A wildfire burning in Central California doubled in size in just a few hours after it broke out in steep areas with heavy brush and tall grass.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the blaze sparked Sunday afternoon near Lake McClure, a reservoir about 50 miles east of Modesto, is threatening homes in a rural area.

Officials have ordered an evacuation order for an unknown number of homes.

The fire has burned nearly 4 square miles.

In Northern California, a 900-acre wildfire in Mendocino County has also triggered an evacuation of homes.

To the south, crews are struggling to surround a 28-square-mile blaze burning for more than a week in the mountains of Santa Barbara County. It is just 49 percent contained after destroying 16 homes.

ORIGINAL: (AP) - Firefighters are battling two wildfires in Northern and Central California that are sending residents fleeing from their homes.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says a 2,500-acre blaze sparked Sunday afternoon near Lake McClure, a reservoir about 50 miles east of Modesto, is threatening homes in a rural area.

Mariposa County Sheriff's officials ordered an evacuation order for an unknown number of homes in the Hunters Valley area two miles east of the lake.

In Northern California, a 400-acre wildfire in Mendocino County as triggered the evacuation of a subdivision in the community of Redwood Valley.

CalFire says the Baker Creek subdivision was evacuated after the fire jumped a road.