California fire forces thousands to flee

Kari Greer | U.S. Forest Service

An unidentified firefighter monitors a controlled backfire Friday night, Aug. 17, 2012, as firefighters battled the Trinity Ridge Fire near Featherville, Idaho, in this photo released Aug. 19. More than 1,100 firefighters worked to protect some 350 homes in the area under an evacuation order because of the 138-square-mile blaze. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Kari Greer)

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Kari Greer | United States Forest Service

An unidentified firefighter monitors a controlled backfire Friday, Aug. 17, 2012, as firefighters battled the Trinity Ridge Fire near Featherville, Idaho, in this photo released Aug. 19. More than 1,100 firefighters worked to protect some 350 homes in the area under an evacuation order because of the 138-square-mile blaze. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Kari Greer)

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InciWeb

This image provided by Inci Web shows a plume of smoke Saturday Aug. 18, 2012 at the Chips Fire inside the Plumas National Forest in northern california. This fire has burned through 67 square miles and is 20 percent contained.(AP Photo/ InciWeb)

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Katherine Jones | Idaho Statesman

Elmore County Sheriff's deputies issue a mandatory evacuation orders to residents of Featherville, Idaho, as the Trinity Ridge fire continues to burn on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012. Authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order for some 350 homes in the area around Featherville due to thick smoke. (AP Photo/Idaho Statesman, Katherine Jones)

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Katherine Jones | Idaho Statesman

Because of such poor visibility and health concerns, Elmore County Sheriff's deputies issued mandatory evacuation orders to residents of Featherville, Idaho, as the Trinity Ridge fire continued to burn on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012. This is the bridge over Johnson Creek. (AP Photo/Idaho Statesman, Katherine Jones)

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Katherine Jones | Idaho Statesman

Pat Christensen, left, and his wife Cyndie sit on the steps of the Featherville Cafe Saturday Aug. 18, 2012 as smoke from Trinity Ridge fire engulfs the area. "I'm not leaving till I see flames come over the top," says Pat Christensen, left, referring to the ridge behind Cyndie's Featherville Cafe. Pat and his wife, Cyndie, are the owners of the cafe in Featherville, Idaho. Elmore County Sheriff's deputies issued mandatory evacuation orders to residents of Featherville on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, because of the Trinity Ridge fire. The Christensens stayed to keep their generators running, which keep the cafe's prime rib, hamburgers and meat frozen. "We'll be open," says Pat. (AP Photo/Idaho Statesman, Katherine Jones)

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Andreas Fuhrmann | The Record Searchlight

Firefighters monitor the Ponderosa Fire, Sunday Aug. 19, 2012 from Rock Creek Road near Viola, Calif. Thousands of people have been told to leave their homes as a wildfire burning Sunday in thick forest threatened rural communities in far Northern California. (AP Photo/The Record Searchlight,Andreas Fuhrmann)

MANTON, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters in Northern California today struggled to gain control of a growing wildfire that has destroyed at least seven homes and forced thousands of rural residents to evacuate. The blaze that started Saturday has consumed more than 23 square miles near the towns of Manton, Shingletown and Viola near the border of Tehama and Shasta counties. It was only about 5 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Ponderosa fire threatens at least 3,000 homes and more than 300 other structures, said fire spokesman Daniel Berlant. More than 1,200 firefighters …