COALINGA, Calif. — A fire burning in steep terrain in central California is growing and has now scorched nearly 8 square miles.
The fire is burning about 8 miles west of the small town of Coalinga in Fresno County. A 21-mile stretch of Highway 198 is closed in both directions to the Monterey County line.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the fire that broke out Monday night is about 10 percent contained.
No one has been injured and no structures are threatened. More than 1,000 firefighters are working to get a handle on the fast-moving blaze.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Meanwhile, a wildfire burning in Southern California’s rugged San Bernardino Mountains has grown to more than 12 square miles, but it hasn’t reached any of the homes it has been threatening.
Prospects for Wednesday looked good for firefighters who had the blaze just 6 percent contained, with temperatures dipping into the low 60s and humidity rising.
Mandatory and voluntary evacuations covered 5,300 homes in the Southern California fire area between mountain communities around Lake Arrowhead and the high desert city of Hesperia to the north, said Lyn Sieliet, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman. The number of people who left was not known.
California’s biggest wildfire expanded to more than 104 square miles north of scenic Big Sur.
