Flames force California residents to flee again ahead of wind-whipped wildfire

By this morning, the lightning-sparked wildfire had destroyed at least 40 homes, mostly in Concow, and threatened nearly 4,000 others in the nearby city of Paradise and other neighboring communities.

A separate wildfire destroyed 74 homes in Paradise last month.

New threat: A backfire burns at sunset at the Gap fire near the town of Goleta, California

Battling back: A firefighter puts water on some flames close to a home near Concow, California

The latest blaze flared up early Tuesday after erratic winds blew embers across fire-containment lines.

The fire was burning across the Feather River from Paradise, where thousands of homes could burn if the blaze jumps the river.

Firefighters struggled against a sudden drop in humidity and a spike in temperature brought by a heat wave that was forecast to linger until the weekend.

Authorities issued evacuation orders for the communities of Big Bend, Jarbo Gap and Yankee Hill, and emergency shelters were set up in Chico and Oroville.

Dozens of evacuees spent Tuesday night at the shelter at Las Plumas High School in Oroville, where people slept on cots in the gymnasium and ate meals donated by businesses and churches.

Emergency action: Forest Service Hot Shots set a backfire near a house to try to contain a blaze in northern Californian

Widespread damage: The charred remains of a child's bicycle is seen at a home destroyed by the Butte Lightning Complex fire

Mary Johnston, 22, who lives near Concow with her father and two young children, burst into tears Wednesday when she saw a photo of her charred house in the Chico Record Enterprise newspaper.

"I'm going nuts. Everything's gone," Johnston sobbed. "It's been so trying, especially with my kids. They don't even know what's going on. It's kind of hard telling them everything's gone, all your toys."

Smoke and low flames rose from charred trees and homes where the fire roared through Concow on Tuesday. Firefighters were able to save most of the houses, often stopping the flames at doorsteps.

Fire crews across the state have been straining to cover hundreds of California wildfires that have burned more than 1,000 square miles and destroyed nearly 100 homes since a lightning storm ignited most of them more than two weeks ago. 

New danger: The 6,860-acre Gap fire is spreading across the chaparral-covered Santa Ynez Mountains of the Los Padres National Forest

Some 1,450 fires had been contained Wednesday, but more than 320 still were active, authorities said.

On the state's Central Coast, firefighters pushed back a blaze threatening Big Sur - enough to allow hundreds of people to return to their homes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

At least 24 homes and 31 other structures have been destroyed in Big Sur.

A fire burning in the Santa Ynez Mountains above the Santa Barbara County coast was more than half contained Wednesday.

More than 1,100 firefighters, nine helicopters and five air tankers were battling the flames, which had blackened more than 15 square miles north-west of Los Angeles.