UPDATE 5:34 P.M.: Gov. Jerry Brown has issued a state of emergency for Amador and Calaveras counties due to the Butte Fire.
UPDATE 3:27 P.M. – Fire has swelled to 50,000 acres. Still 10 percent contained. In addition to the six structures destroyed, two outbuildings have also been destroyed.
Six-thousand structures are threatened.
For the latest, here is the incident page.
UPDATE 6:58 AM – The fire has now spread to 31,974 acres and is still only 10 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.
AMADOR COUNTY (KRON) — The heat is hammering fire crews, who are struggling to save homes in the Sierra Foothills as a dangerous fire explodes.
Crews are attacking the massive blaze from the air and the ground. Six homes have already been destroyed.
It started Wednesday in Amador County, spreading to Calaveras County Thursday. This is just east of the town of Jackson, near the Jackson Rancheria Casino, about 50 miles southeast of Sacramento.
On Wednesday night, the fire was at 2,000 acres. On Thursday, it has swelled to nearly 15,000 acres — and still going.
The containment is at 10 percent. And mandatory evacuation orders are widespread, with schools closing as well.
Cal Fire said the fire is expanding in all directions.
Temperatures on Thursday were right around 100 degrees, with low humidity. That is hindering the firefight, as tinder dry terrain effortlessly ignites.
For Cal Fire’s incident page on this blaze, click here.