California Wildfires Update: King Fire Threatens More Than 2,000 Homes

Three wildfires are charring California, fed by high temperatures, wind gusts and dry foliage from the state's worst drought in decades. The King Fire, the largest of the three, threatened to jump a highway overnight and put more than 1,600 homes in the path of the flames.

The latest round of evacuations comes as thousands of Californians have fled their homes in recent days, with more than 150 structures across the state reduced to ash and hundreds of other homes and buildings still under threat from encroaching flames.

The fires are just three of at least seven major fires burning across the state, part of an ongoing crisis in drought-plagued California.

State fire officials have already responded to more than 4,800 wildfires so far this year, USA Today reports, 1,000 more than an average fire season, and peak wildfire season is only just now underway.

"We've seen a lot more fires, and with those fires, more and more people are at threat. Every day we continue to see new fires ignite, forcing hundreds to evacuate," Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant told USA Today.

"Historically, September and October are the months we experience our most damaging wildfires. Fall is the peak for us. Temperatures start to go down … but we start to see winds pick up and conditions are at their driest."

(MORE: How to Stay Safe if a Wildfire Threatens)

 According to weather.com meteorologist Linda Lam, weather conditions in northern, central and southern California will start to change in the coming days, potentially providing some relief for firefighters battling blazes in those areas.

"Northern California will experience lower temperatures and could see showers Wednesday and Thursday as a low pressure system moves in," Lam said. "By Thursday the same low pressure system could bring thunderstorms to areas of central California along with cooler temperatures. Meanwhile, areas of southern California have a slight chance for thunderstorms today and Wednesday as moisture from Odile pushes north, but could see more thunderstorms through Friday as an upper-level trough moves in."

According to Lam, areas of southern and northwestern California have the best chance for rain. It's important to note that while the prospect of storms might seem like a positive for firefighting efforts, wind gusts and lightning from those same storms could worsen or start new fires.

Here's the latest information on the three fires threatening and destroying homes across the state:

King Fire (El Dorado County, Central California) Update:

Latest Statistics: 27,930 Acres Burned, 2,007 Homes Threatened, 5 Percent Contained

The largest of the three fires, the King Fire, has yet to claim any homes or structures, but is a major threat to hundreds of homes in El Dorado County to the east of Sacramento, California.

As a result, mandatory evacuations were in place for several communities including Swansboro and Crystal Basin, and homes along more than 24 roads in the area.

According to CalFire, the King Fire is spreading rapidly in South Fork American River Canyon and Silver Creek Canyon and moving to the east/northeast and northwest. Containment dropped from 10 percent to 5 percent Monday evening and the fire has only grown since then.

Boles Fire (Siskiyou County, Northern California) Update:

Latest Statistics: 375 Acres Burned, 150 Structures Damaged or Destroyed, 60 Percent Contained

State fire officials say the blaze east of Sacramento was threatening 2,003 single residences and about 1,500 other structures Wednesday night.

It has now burned nearly 44 square miles of trees and brush. Some 2,500 firefighters have it 5 percent contained.

U.S. Forest Service Supervisor for the Eldorado National Forest Laurence Crabtree tells the Sacramento Bee that the blaze has brought significant losses of public timberland, private timberland and watershed territory.

Most of the threatened homes were in Pollock Pines, 60 miles east of Sacramento.

Hundreds of them are under evacuation orders, but it wasn't immediately clear exactly how many.

Courtney Fire (Madera County, Central California) Update:

Latest Statistics: 320 Acres Burned, 61 Structures Destroyed, 200 Homes Evacuated, 70 Percent Contained

Evacuations remain in place for 600 people in 200 homes in Madera County community of Bass Lake Heights due to the Courtney Fire. The fire spread from Oakhurst, California, to the popular recreational area Bass Lake. More than 500 firefighters were struggling to cope with the blaze due to steep, rugged terrain and "extreme fire behavior conditions," but upped containment significantly Tuesday into Wednesday.

The fire already claimed 61 structures, including 33 homes, near Oakhurst, California, an area already reeling from a wildfire that destroyed eight structures earlier this year.

"I really feel for this community, which has already been through a lot," state fire spokesman Dennis Mathisen told the Associated Press. "This is yet another example of how the damaging effect of this drought has impacted California."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.