In just hours, two Northern California blazes that started Monday exploded past 5,000 acres.
Nearly a dozen wildfires of 300 or more acres continued to burn throughout the state early Tuesday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
Two Northern California fires that started Monday grew particularly fast, each exploding to near 5,000 acres in a matter of hours.
This season has already seen 14 California wildfires of more than 1,000 acres; by this date last year, there had been just one.
The map above shows the locations of the biggest current fires, ranked by their size Monday.
The largest fire of California’s season so far is the Post Fire (1) in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, had burned 15,611 acres on Monday. The blaze, which started Saturday afternoon in Gorman, was 24% contained. The area under evacuation order expanded to the south, past Pyramid Lake, on Monday afternoon.
The Sites Fire (2) in Colusa County and the Aero Fire (3) in Calaveras County rounded out the top three at 10,000 and 5,245 acres, respectively. Both blazes broke out Monday afternoon and grew rapidly. Containment of the Sites Fire was listed at 0% on Tuesday morning, while the Aero Fire was listed at 20% contained. Evacuations were ordered in the Sierra foothills community of Copperopolis for the Aero Fire.
The Point Fire (4) in Sonoma County had consumed 1,207 acres as of Monday night and was 20% contained. A firefighter was injured while battling the blaze and remained in the hospital, according to Cal Fire.
The fifth- and sixth-largest fires were separated by just a couple of acres. The Hesperia Fire (5) in San Bernardino County had burned 1,078 acres and was 72% contained and the Junes Fire (6) in Butte County had burned 1,076 acres and was 95% contained.
Cal Fire said the Junes Fire has destroyed one structure since it started Saturday afternoon.
Other blazes of notable size included the Lisa Fire (7) in Riverside County at 892 acres (95% contained), the Hernandez Fire (8) in San Benito County at 642 acres (45% contained) and the Tuscany Fire (9) in Riverside County at 350 acres (50% contained).
Finally, the Max Fire in Los Angles County (10) and the Douglas Fire in Sacramento County (11) had consumed 338 and 327 acres, respectively. Both blazes were 0% contained.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Mike Darby helps a rancher tend to cattle as the Aero Fire burns in the Copperopolis community of Calaveras County, Calif., on Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) …Read More