The state of the wildfires burning throughout Northern California is improving as firefighters are slowly taking control of the situation. The lighting-sparked wildfires which already charred 49,000 acres and caused the evacuation of thousands of residents was 50% contained, state officials said.

Firefighters managed to contain half of the fire near the town of Paradise in Butte County by early Thursday according to Fred Orsborn of Cal Fire, the state’s fire agency.

California officials ordered the evacuation of as much as 14,000 residents from Paradise, a town with a population of about 26,000 people. About 8,000 residents had left the town, and 8,000 more were in danger of an evacuation according to Orsborn.

"Citizens need to immediately evacuate by gathering personal belongings that will fit in your vehicle," wrote a message posted on Paradise's Web site by the town manager.

Numerous fire rescue teams totaling a crew of 2,880 firefighters are battling the huge blazes in Butte County, north of Sacramento, and are facing triple-digit temperatures. The morning winds could blow with speeds higher than 30 mph and add life to the blaze near Paradise, officials said.

About 10,000 people have been evacuated in the county so far and many of them were sent to shelters which have been established for them.

As many as 1,781 wildfires have burned more than 688,400 acres during the last weeks across the state of California, officials estimated, and there are about 322 active fires burning at the moment, Cal Fire informed.