By comparison, the King fire had been “holding steady” at 3,900 acres on Monday afternoon, according to the Sacramento Bee.

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The fire was so large that it was clearly visible from space, according to Reid Wiseman, a U.S. astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

The fire’s explosive growth and rapid movement “prompted specially trained federal firefighters to take command of the fire early Tuesday morning,”

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, adding:

By nightfall, groups of firefighters were setting off small burns to try to slow the spread, anxious to prevent one flank of the fire from crossing south of Highway 50 from the canyon along the south fork of the American River to the small community that lives in the scenic, heavily wooded area. The fire had reached the edge of Highway 50 late Tuesday. Giant explosions of fire sent massive clouds of smoke and sparks high into the air above the road, a breathtaking sight that carried the threat of setting evergreens on either side of the road ablaze.

Here’s a Cal Fire map of the perimeter, from Tuesday:

But that doesn’t necessarily get across just how close the fire came to that highway. This image, from USA Today’s Trevor Hughes, does:

As of early Wednesday, the fire hadn’t jumped into the Pollock Pines community south of the highway, but officials closed a portion of the highway in both directions. Hughes drove the perimeter of the blaze overnight, and reported that the fire was, for now, “generally away from homes.”

According to Reno’s NBC affiliate, KRNV, officials expect the fire to continue spreading for at least a couple more days.

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More than 6,500 firefighters are working to slow the fire, as the blaze consumes steep, forested Sierra Nevada terrain. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Two firefighters have been injured battling the blaze, Lynn Tolmachoff, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire, told the Auburn Journal. “One was minor the other was moderate and that firefighter was taken to an area hospital as the result of a fall,” she said.

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A model from the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office suggested that smoke from the fire could reach into Nevada by Wednesday morning.

The King fire is one of 11 major wildfires burning in California right now, thanks to soaring temperatures, high winds and the historic drought plaguing much of the state. These are extremely favorable conditions for wildfires, and on Wednesday, Cal Fire released a statement explaining that the conditions are expected to continue/

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“Weather in most areas will again not be in the favor of firefighters,” the statement said. “A Red Flag Warning for high fire danger remains in effect today for much of Siskiyou, Lassen and Modoc counties due to strong winds and low humidity. Across most of the rest of the state, hot temperatures are again expected to raise the fire danger level.

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The fires across the state have prompted the evacuation of thousands from their homes. Wednesday, Cal Fire said that “several thousand residents remain evacuated,” even as communities begin to assess the damage in areas hit by the fires.

The Boles fire destroyed 150 structures in the town of Weed alone, as Jefferson Public Radio reported:

“The fire reduced entire neighborhoods to smoldering rubble. It burned more than 150 homes in just a few hours, destroyed two churches and the town’s library, damaged an elementary school and burned portions of the town’s largest employer, Roseburg Forest Products Mill.”

Cal Fire is offering a $10,000 reward for information on how the Boles fire began.

Here is a map of the general locations for some of the state’s active and contained wildfires, per Cal Fire:

View California Fire Map in a larger map