California wildfires force residents from homes in two towns

(Reuters) - Residents of two California towns were under mandatory evacuation orders on Thursday due to a burgeoning wind-swept wildfire while aircraft battling the massive blaze were grounded because of a drone craft in the area, officials said.

The fire in the mountains of San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles was among scores of wildfires raging along the U.S. West Coast, from Alaska through California, in areas grappling with drought emergencies and record low snowpack.

Firefighters were losing ground to the long-burning San Bernardino County blaze, which swelled to 23,199 acres (9,388 hectares) by Thursday in the face of gusting winds, according to fire-tracking website InciWeb, which pulls information from multiple agencies.

The blaze, which began nine days ago, prompted evacuation orders late on Wednesday of two towns and voluntary evacuations of a third as containment dropped to 21 percent. The fire had been about one-third contained the day prior.

Authorities did not say how many people had been ordered evacuated but some 7,000 structures were threatened in the areas where residents have been ordered or advised to leave, although not all threatened structures are residences.

Roadways and camp grounds remain closed and about 360 campers were sent home from the Lake Williams Area on Wednesday.

"Weather will remain warm and dry over the fire with gusty west winds over the next few days," according to InciWeb, although temperatures were expected to cool in that area in the next several days.

Weather was not the only hurdle. Nearly a dozen firefighting aircraft were grounded after a drone was spotted in the area. Authorities did not give details about the size or the owner of the craft.

In Los Angeles County, roughly 1,000 residents in Santa Clarita were ordered from their homes late on Wednesday as a hard-charging fire swelled to some 350 acres (142 hectares) in a matter of hours, the county fire department said.

Those evacuation orders were lifted on Wednesday night and the fire was about 60 percent contained by Thursday morning, the department said.

Flames dipped into a lush canyon and threatened surrounding homes, charring one garage before firefighters vanquished them, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In southern Oregon, firefighters had contained 60 percent of a 5,341-acre (2,161-hectare) fire in Cave Junction that has closed forest but not damaged property. 

Fire officials have enacted restrictions on fires and flammables in 16 counties as Governor Kate Brown declared a drought emergency for 20 of the 36 counties.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Additional reporting by Shelby Sebens in Portland, Oregon; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Bill Trott)