Communities Evacuate As Northern California Wildfire Expands

A wildfire burning in parched northern California brushland expanded rapidly on Thursday as the area sweltered under triple digit temperatures, forcing the evacuation of several communities, state fire officials said. The so-called Butte Fire, which erupted on Wednesday east of the city of Jackson, about an hour’s drive southeast of the state capital, Sacramento, grew to 14,700 acres (5,949 hectares)by Thursday evening, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The blaze was 10 percent contained.