The blaze is one of nearly two dozen fires spread across Northern California on Wednesday.
It forced about 100 residents in the Sierra Nevada foothills to evacuate and closed a main highway between San Francisco and Yosemite National Park.
Firefighters and aircraft fought through thick smoke to contain the flames.
It is not yet known if the town’s Gold Rush era buildings were damaged, but some historic landmarks, including a church from 1855, appeared to have survived the flames.
