California's King Fire Grows to 80,000 Acres, Destroys At Least 32 Structures

Nearly three dozen structures have been destroyed in a growing wildfire in Northern California that has already scorched over 80,000 acres. 

Capt. Tom Piranio, a fire information officer, says 10 residences and 22 outbuildings have been destroyed in the so-called King Fire, according to preliminary figures released Sunday. Assessment teams were going back in dangerous conditions to survey more damage.

The fire, some 60 miles east of Sacramento in the Eldorado National Forest, grew to more than 128 square miles Saturday, and has forced 2,800 people from their homes. Gathering thunderstorms could either help or harm the firefight with moisture or wind, authorities said. The L.A. Times reports that high temperatures, low humidity and dry, drought-striken trees have intesified the blaze. It is just 10 percent contained.

The blaze began one week ago, and a man accused of starting the blaze is being held on $10 million bail. 

Fire crews have dropped a record half-million gallons of fire retardant on the King fire. More than 203,000 gallons of retardant were dropped in a single day as the blaze raged, according to fire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff. Retardant — a water-and-fertilizer mix colored with red dye — are used as an initial attack tool on wildfires to buy time for crews to get to the scene and dig fire lines.

The King fire is one of at least nine sizeable wildfires CalFire is monitoring, as hot, dry conditions, and the historic drought, make potent conditions for fire starters. Earlier this week, the Bolles fire burned about 150 homes and buildings in Weed, California, while the Courtney fire in Madera County destroyed about 50 more.

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

Here's the latest information on the most-impactful fires across the state:

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

Latest Statistics: 81,000 Acres Burned, 12,000 Homes Threatened, 10 Percent Contained

The King fire has been one of the most formidable in the West this year, ballooning in size and keeping firefighters on the defensive to keep it out of residential areas. 

"They can slow it down a little bit. But they're not able to hold it long enough to get ground units in there to extinguish it before it burns through and continues its path," Tolmachoff said.

The King Fire, which authorities said was deliberately set, has chewed through nearly 120 square miles of timber and vegetation about 60 miles east of Sacramento. On Sunday, authorities determined that the fire has destroyed at least 32 structures. It was 10 percent contained.

The blaze in steep terrain forced the evacuation of 2,800 people.

One resident who has been helping carve fire lines with his bulldozer told the Sacramento Bee he lost his home on White Meadows Road when he went to check on it Friday.

The fire is threatening a key University of California, Berkeley research station that is home to scores of experiments on trees, plants and other wildlife. It is also threatening hydroelectric facilities and power lines that deliver water and electricity to the Sacramento region and some treasured Sierra Nevada recreations areas, the Bee reported. Some power stations and lines either burned or were shut down as a precaution, cutting off energy from three utility agencies' hydroelectric reservoirs.

The man suspected of setting the fire, Wayne Allen Huntsman, 37, pleaded not guilty to an arson charge Friday in El Dorado County Superior Court. He was being held on $10 million bail.

Authorities have not said what evidence they have linking Huntsman to the fire, by far the largest of about a dozen fires burning statewide.

Boles Fire (Siskiyou County, Northern California) Update:

Latest Statistics: 480 Acres Burned, 150 Structures Damaged or Destroyed, 85 Percent Contained

In the town of Weed, where a blaze began Monday and raged across the community, teams of firefighters went house-to-house Wednesday to pin down damage by a wildfire that officials estimated had destroyed 110 homes and damaged another 90.

The new figures were a marked increase from the initial estimate that a total of 150 structures had been destroyed or damaged in the blaze that rapidly swept across the town. Four firefighters lost their homes.

Two churches, a community center and the library also burned to the ground, while an elementary school and the city's last wood-products mill were damaged by flames that had been pushed by 40-mph winds.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Cal Fire officials are offering a $10,000 reward for any information about the origins of the fire, according to NBC Bay Area.

Courtney Fire (Madera County, Central California) Update:

Latest Statistics: 320 Acres Burned, 49 Structures Destroyed, 90 Percent Contained

Crews continued to get a better handle on the Courtney Fire in central California, bringing containment to 90 percent by late Thursday. All evacuation orders were lifted for some 200 homes in Madera County community of Bass Lake Heights that were previously evacuated due to the Courtney fire.

The fire has 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."

Officials have made an arrest in the investigation of the fire's cause, according to the Modesto Bee.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.