LOS ANGELES — Heavy rains that hit in an area scarred by the deadliest wildfire in recorded California history caused flooding that prompted evacuations of homes and shut down part of a highway on Thursday, officials said.

The Butte County Sheriff's Office issued an evacuation order for an area east of Chico, a city near the Camp Fire burn area, after storms dumped as much as 1-and-a-half inches of rain in the area burned by the fire, and after thunderstorms on Thursday dropped another 1 ¼ inches, officials said.

Butte County sheriff’s Sgt. Brad Meyer told NBC affiliate KNVN of Chico that flooding of several feet stranded some residents in an area near Honey Run Road and Horse Run Lane, that crews were using rafts to reach around 12 homes.

"It is serious. The water is coming up, so we want to make sure we get everybody out that we can," he said, adding that the depth was a couple of feet across the road.

Rick Carhart, a public information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Butte Unit, said that a swift water rescue team was deployed and three homes were evacuated by boat in that area.

An evacuation order remains for the devastated town of Paradise, which was mostly destroyed in the Camp Fire that began on Nov. 8 and is blamed in at least 88 deaths.

The flooding on Honey Run Road, and flooding which caused the closure of part of Highway 99 south of Chico, was at least partially caused by runoff from rain that fell in the Camp Fire burn area, which can't absorb the same water as it would have if it hadn't burned, National Weather Service forecaster Cindy Matthews said.

Adding to the flooding in areas south of the burn area is a line of thunderstorms that stalled over that area, she said.

"The same areas are repeatedly being hit with moderate to heavy rain," Matthews said. The rain in the area was expected to last into the afternoon, she said.

@CALFIRE_ButteCo Swiftwater Rescue Team deployed to the Butte Creek Canyon along with other firefighters and used one of the team's boats to evacuate people from three homes in the area. pic.twitter.com/re8PAMeINy — CAL FIRE Butte Unit/Butte County Fire Department (@CALFIRE_ButteCo) November 30, 2018

A section of Highway 99 south of Chico was closed due to flooding, transportation officials said. The Chico Police Department on Twitter said there were reports of many flooded roads, but a police official said that flooding was not due to the recent fire. A flash flood warning was in effect for parts of the burn area until 9:15 p.m. local time (12:15 a.m. ET).

Dale Word, a firmware engineer, was evacuated briefly Thursday from his semi-rural Chico neighborhood for the second time this month. He told the Associated Press that he was stunned by the disasters that have hit Butte County, and said the Camp Fire came within several hundred feet of his home.

"Everywhere you go you're talking to people who have lost everything and it’s just tragic," Word told the AP, jokingly adding, "It feels like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are going to come riding over the hill any day now."

Rain was also falling in Southern California in an area burned by another wildfire, the so-called Woolsey Fire, which also erupted Nov. 8 and destroyed more than 1,600 structures. The National Weather Service said that a flood advisory was in effect for the area, and warned of possible mud and debris flows in burned areas.