Southern California wildfire prompts evacuations

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A raging wildfire fanned by hot winds approached the outskirts of a community north of Los Angeles on Tuesday, prompting officials to order the evacuation of several neighborhoods.

The fire had charred only about 300 acres as of Tuesday afternoon, but authorities said it was moving quickly toward a number of structures as well as power lines and farmland.

Several neighborhoods were ordered evacuated and livestock was moved out of the path of the flames, which were burning toward Moorpark, a community of about 40,000 people in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles.

It was one of several wildfires that erupted around Southern California as temperatures soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 C) and seasonal Santa Ana winds picked up, blowing hot air across bone-dry chaparral and wilderness areas.

Firefighters were also keeping a close eye on the Station Fire, which has burned over 160,000 acres -- the 10th-largest on record in California by area -- and cost nearly $100 million to fight, since it broke out on August 26 in a mountainous area next to Los Angeles and nearby suburbs.

The Station Fire was 94 percent contained.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Eric Walsh)