The Butte Fire swelled by Friday morning to 31,974, impacting power and resources in Amador and Calaveras counties.
UPDATE: New mandatory evacuations now include Oak Park Estates to Mountain Ranch Road. The town of Mountain Ranch, SR-26, Ridge Road, east of Hwy 49 to Flying Acres
Denny Boyles with PG&E said power outages have grown to 12,900 due to fire growth causing the loss of another circuit. The company said it's looking to creatively restore power to customers.
Cal Fire said it's now 10 percent containment and it's been rapidly growing since it ignited.
The fire started around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday just east of the town of Jackson. Within 24 hours the Butte Fire initially started, it had quadrupled in size to 4,000 acres by Thursday morning.
The blaze has destroyed six structures and two outbuildings; another 1,500 structures are threatened.
The fire is spreading in all directions, Cal Fire said. The terrain -- steep river drainage and volatile dry grassy oak woodland -- and the weather conditions- high heat and low humidity -- are creating dangerous fire behavior.
"Fire is unpredictable," the department said.
The department announced additional mandatory evacuations Friday in Calaveras County. This includes Jesus Maria from California State Route 26 to Railroad Flat to include all side streets North of Jesus Maria and South to Doster Road / West Murray Creek Road and East of Hawver Road; Ridge Road North to State Route 26, Associated Office, Woodhouse Mine with Railroad Flat as Eastern Boundary; Hawver Road at Gold Strike East to Doster Road; Whiskey Slide Road North of Mountain Ranch Road to Jesus Maria / Whiskey Slide East to Railroad Flat Road.
Other mandatory evacuations are in place for areas south of Highway 88 to the Amador and Calaveras county lines. Also between West Clinto Road to Ponderosa Way and East Clinton Road to Ranch Road and Highway 88.
Flames knocked down power lines Wednesday evening, cutting power to about 17,000 PG&E customers. By Thursday, more than 11,000 residences were still without power. PG&E told ABC10 crews don't have access to the downed lines because of the fire, and estimate they will not have repairs made until Saturday night.
Amador County Unified School DIstrict announced they will close all their schools Friday. High school athletic events are also cancelled for Friday night. A few schools had to close Thursday because they were without power and without water.
Schools hope to open as normal on Monday morning. The school district will notify parents and students if conditions worsen or the fire grows over the weekend.
