By Larry Copeland, USA TODAY

Thousands of residents in three rural communities in Northern California have been told to leave their homes as a wildfire that has already destroyed four homes and scorched nearly 19 square miles now threatens their property, a fire official said Sunday.

About 3,000 homes in a rural area along the border of Tehama and Shasta counties were being threatened by the Ponderosa Fire, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said.

The fire was about 150 miles north of Sacramento and was near the towns of Manton, Shingletown and Viola, Berlant said.

The Ponderosa Fire, one of 14 major wildfires burning in California, was among a rash of Western wildfires scorching parts of that state, Washington, Idaho and Utah.

•In Idaho, residents around the town of Featherville, remained under a mandatory evacuation order as the Trinity Ridge Fire in the Boise National Forest continued to threaten their community.

About 100 permanent residents of the small mountain resort town had left their homes, said Chris Brun, a dispatcher with the Elmore County sheriff's office. Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Mallory Eils said, "The fire will make it to Featherville. It's just a matter of when."

About 1,100 firefighters were battling the blaze, which has charred some 82,000 acres and has been burning for two weeks.

•In Washington, better weather conditions over the weekend helped firefighters gain ground on a fire that has scorched dozens of homes east of the Cascades.

That fire has burned across more than 23,000 acres in rural areas about 75 miles east of Seattle.

•Evacuation orders were being lifted Sunday in Utah, where three wildfires had burned a total of 400 acres.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection provides fire protection for about one-third of the state, and this year, firefighters have battled about 4,000 wildfires, 1,300 more than at this time last year, Berlant said. "That's all due to the fact that this winter we had so very little rain. Much of the ground, brush and timber is tinder-dry and all it takes is a spark or an ember for the fire to catch and burn very quickly and very aggressively."

Contributing: The Associated Press

USA TODAY