Dozens of homes burned in new California wildfire

(Reuters) - Hundreds of firefighters were headed to the communities around Isabella Lake in central California on Friday to battle a fast-growing wildfire that has destroyed 80 homes and threatens over 1,000 more, officials said. The so-called Erskine Fire erupted on Thursday afternoon in the foothills of Kern County about 42 miles (68 km) northeast of Bakersfield and within hours devoured 5,000 acres of drought-parched brush and grass, fire information website InciWeb said. "There are currently 350 fire fighters on scene, with several hundred more in route to the fire," the website said.

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