A hillside brush fire blackened dozens of acres in the northern San Diego County town of San Marcos on Wednesday (May 14), sending huge columns of smoke into the sky, prompting evacuations in surrounding residential areas and at a nearby college.

The San Marcos fire is one of nine now burning in the San Diego area, although some have been brought under control.

The fires flared as California entered the height of wildfire season in the midst of one of the state's worst droughts on record, setting the stage for what fire officials fear could be a particularly intense and dangerous year.