Fire crews in California battled to halt the advance of wildfire that has already destroyed about 150 homes, lapped at rural schools and caused power outages that left an evacuation shelter without electricity, authorities said.

The wildfires came as parts of California baked under high temperatures and the most populous US state grappled with a devastating three years of drought, which has dried out brush and trees, helping fuel the flames.

East of Sacramento, the King Fire raging mainly in heavy timber and steep terrain in the El Dorado National Forest led officials to call on about 400 people to evacuate from areas threatened by the blaze, Smith said. That fire has charred some 12,780 acres (5,172 hectares) and was five percent contained yesterday.

Nearly 2,500 firefighters were deployed against the King Fire, out of a total force of thousands more battling the dozen blazes burning statewide, officials said.