BREAKING: State of Emergency in California

California wildfire forces evacuation of 2,700, threatens 6,000 structures - report

Roughly 2,700 people have been ordered to evacuate the town of San Andreas, California as a wildfire rages in the surrounding area, the Associated Press reported. A state of emergency has been declared.

RT,

11 September, 2015

Images posted online show the fire creeping closer towards the town, with smoke filling the air. 

BREAKING @AP: San Andreas ordered evacuated, state of emergency declared as #ButteFire surgespic.twitter.com/N8Dc2Kn5t1

— KTVU (@KTVU) September 11, 2015

The "Butte Fire," as it's been called, was described as "extremely dangerous" by California state fire spokeswoman Nancy Longmore, the AP stated.

"It's expanding like a balloon," she said. "It's moving very fast. There's many homes threatened."

Scary, scary scene in San Andreas right now. #ButteFirepic.twitter.com/kSsyfEhRrc

— Nick Janes (@nick_janes) September 11, 2015

Though it began Wednesday, the Butte Fire only burned through a few hundred acres earlier through Thursday. On Friday, it had engulfed 50,000 acres after being prodded by temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It's now only five miles away from San Andreas, according to AP, and only 10 percent contained, according to state officials.

California Governor Jerry Brown has also declared a state of emergency in Amador County and Calaveras County, where San Andreas is located, in order to help battle the flames.

#BREAKING: Evacuations ordered at Northern California town of San Andreas due to #ButteFire.http://t.co/dZSYJVBUmTpic.twitter.com/i6THlr0G6f

— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) September 11, 2015

About 6,000 structures are in danger, according to Longmore, though she did not say how many are homes.

Already, eight structures have been destroyed.

More than 1,500 firefighters have been dispatched to combat the blaze, the Los Angeles Times reported.

On Mills Ave in San Andreas the #ButteFire is making a run up a hill, burning black right behind a home.@FOX40 @ 5 pic.twitter.com/qHJuA0Bv0Y

— Nicole Comstock (@ComstockNEWS) September 11, 2015

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Famed 'Chicago Stump' sequoia threatened by massive California wildfire

Flames from a massive wildfire burning in the Sierra Nevada will soon surround the famed stump of an ancient sequoia that was shown at the Chicago World’s Fair more than a century ago, the U.S. Forest Service said Friday.

The Chicago Stump, a remnant of the goliath General Noble Tree that was cut down so sections could be reassembled for the 1897 Chicago World’s Fair, is directly in the path of the Rough fire’s southern face.

“It’s imminent," Jim Schwarber, a spokesman for the fire’s incident management team, said of the fire surrounding the area that contains stands of trees thousands of years old.

The fire, which has spread southwest by almost 20,000 acres over the last two days to a total size of 119,069 acres in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, was started by lightning July 31 and has seen a resurgence this week as extended heat and wind have fueled its growth, Schwarber said.