A 700-acre fire was spreading on Tuesday afternoon in the parched hills of the San Francisco Bay Area, prompting evacuation orders for thousands of residents, according to fire officials.
The blaze, named the Little fire, was burning dry hillsides in Sunol, Calif., a rural area more than 30 miles southeast of downtown San Francisco. It was threatening a golf-course community called Ruby Hill and other suburban homes in nearby Pleasanton.
As of 6 p.m., more than 4,800 residents were under evacuation orders, according to a New York Times analysis. Tanner Mar, a Cal Fire spokesman, said that no structures had been damaged.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the state’s main firefighting agency, said that firefighters were being hampered by limited access and hot weather, with temperatures soaring past 90 degrees. The blaze was being attacked on the ground by the agency, known as Cal Fire, and the Alameda County Fire Department, as well as from the air with tankers and helicopters.
The fire was burning near a decommissioned nuclear facility. The facility’s owner, NorthStar, said that it was evaluating the incident.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Tim Arango contributed reporting.
