State of emergency declared for Northern California counties hit by fires

(CNN) -- California's governor has declared a state of emergency in two counties in the north of the state where wildfires have torched tens of thousands of acres, destroying some homes and threatening others.

Thousands of firefighters have been deployed to try to tame the blazes in El Dorado and Siskiyou counties.

The King Fire is raging in the El Dorado National Forest east of Sacramento. It has so far burned 70,994 acres and is only 5% contained, Cal Fire said Thursday.

Evacuations were in effect for more than 2,100 people due to that blaze, authorities said.

"This thing is just out of control at this point," said CNN International Meteorologist Ivan Cabrera.

Farther north in Siskiyou County, near the border with Oregon, a smaller fire has already caused severe damage to property.

The Boles Fire tore into the town of Weed this week, razing libraries, fitness centers and entire neighborhood blocks, according to CNN affiliate KDRV.

The blaze has destroyed at least 150 structures, according to Cal Fire, and crews are still assessing the scale of the damage. About 1,000 homes remain threatened, officials said.

Images from the scene showed charred vehicles and patches of rubble where houses once stood.

'Devastating loss'

The fire, which covers 375 acres, is now 65% contained, but evacuation orders remain in effect for some areas, Cal Fire said.

Authorities say they want to allow people to return to their properties as soon as they can, but only when it's safe to do so.

"At some point we're going to have to remove this debris," local fire official Koby Johns told KDRV. "And before that, we need to, one, make sure there's nobody here. And two, make sure there's nothing that's going to fall and injure a firefighter."

Announcing a state of emergency in El Dorado and Siskiyou, California Gov. Jerry Brown said, "The wildfires in Northern California serve as a reminder that dry conditions can be the precursor to devastating loss."

Authorities have said California's ongoing historic drought has helped fuel fires that have plagued areas across the state.

The causes of the King and Boles fires are still under investigation.




CNN's Michael Martinez and Amanda Watts contributed to this report.