More than 1,500 residents were evacuated
near Santa Cruz, California, as a more than 280 hectare wildfire threatened homes in the coastal town south of San Francisco.
Officials had warned that heavy winds and high temperatures had increased the
fire danger in the area.
More than 200 firefighters were battling the blaze, the San Francisco Chronicle
reported.
The fire was expected to grow before being contained, fire department officials
told the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
A day earlier, 30 homes were destroyed in the northern California town of Stockton.
In late May, fires levelled 35 homes in the Santa Cruz area, dpa reported.