LOS ANGELES, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- A fast-moving wildfire, burning in the Sierra Nevada foothills, has scorched homes in a historic Gold Rush town in California and forced evacuations of residents from the town and surrounding highways on Tuesday, authorities said Wednesday.

Once a bustling community, the town in Chinese Camp was home to about 5,000 Chinese miners as well as a similar number of American and European settlers during the Gold Rush era, according to Tuolumne County.

The extent of the damage in Chinese Camp wasn't immediately clear pending an official review, about 61 people still live there, said Emily Kilgore, public information officer with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) Tuolumne Calaveras Unit.

The fire is part of a group of lightning-sparked wildfires that have burned about 56 square km in multiple locations in Calaveras, Tuolumne and Stanislaus counties of the state, according to the Cal Fire.

As of Wednesday evening, the fires were 15 percent contained. More than 1,200 personnel and 13 helicopters have been deployed to battle the blazes, Cal Fire said. ■