On Wednesday, thousands of people in Butte County, Northern California, were under evacuation orders after a rapidly spreading wildfire spread to more than 1,200 acres.

Firefighters are working to protect homes from the Thompson Fire, which broke out Tuesday near Oroville, about 70 miles north of Sacramento, during a week of extreme heat across the state. Several homes have already been destroyed, but there were no reports of injuries early Wednesday.

About 13,000 people were asked to evacuate.

A state of emergency has been declared in the community of about 20,000 residents. Governor Gavin Newsom's office announced late Tuesday that federal funds had been approved to support firefighters battling hot and dry conditions.

Temperatures are expected to reach around 38 degrees Celsius. Similar weather conditions are forecast for Southern California during the holiday week, increasing the risk of wildfires.

In California, nearly 54,000 hectares have been destroyed by wildfires so far this year. According to Cal Fire estimates, this is a huge increase compared to the same period last year, when the fires destroyed 3,400 hectares of land.