Wildfire devours 60,000 acres in Yolo County, California

Hot, dry conditions are fuelling blazes in several states in the U.S. West.

A wind whipped wildfire has swept through Northern California threatening 700 homes and buildings.

As firefighters struggled to contain the blaze, it continued to grow, surging through the sparsely populated Yolo and Napa counties, around 50 miles from the state capital of Sacramento.

The fire started last month and the flames had devoured over 60,000 acres of tinder-dry grass, brush, and oak since then.

Only five per cent of the flames have been contained by the fire service, resulting in forced, mandatory evacuations in the area.

Cal Fire have reported that the potential for growth of the fire remains high, especially through the hot Fourth of July holiday.

The blaze is currently not the resident's only concern, as smoke and ash are both contributing to poor air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area and California wine country.