A fast-growing brush fire prompted the evacuation of roughly 300 people on Monday (September 26) from an area of the Santa Cruz mountains in Northern California, NBC said. <br /> <br />The blaze charred about 1000 acres of drought-parched vegetation and threatened at least 300 structures, according to local media. <br /> <br />More than 200 firefighters were assigned to the so-called 'Loma' but they fire managed to contain only five percent of the blaze, officials said. <br /> <br />In La Cañada Flintridge, in Southern California, a fire broke out at about 9:00 p.m local time and consumed some three acres, NBC reported. <br /> <br />Aerial footage showed the blaze burning near highways and homes. <br /> <br />Firefighters continued to battle several brush fires fuelled by a prolonged drought and extreme heat across California. <br /> <br />To date this year, a total of 4,800 wildfires large and small have blackened more than 204,000 acres statewide, nearly 100,000 acres more than at the same time last year, Cal Fire reported.
