Authorities were forces to evacuate residents dwelling in areas north of Goleta in Santa Barbara County due to a massive blaze which is consuming everything in its path in the Los Padres National Forest.

At least 50 acres were completely burned by the massive wildfires in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kathy Good. The winds are pushing the blaze down a slope toward homes in the Glen Annie and La Patera canyons, said Good.

Local authorities have issued a mandatory evacuation for the people living in those areas.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an order which calls on 200 National Guard troops to begin fire training in order to help the exhausted firefighters who are currently fighting wildfires that have scorched more than 660 square miles statewide. The National Guard hasn’t been ordered to do a similar thing since 1977 according to a guard spokesman.

Hundreds of firefighters are currently making huge efforts to contain the fires burning from the western edge of the Sierra Nevada to coastal mountains near Big Sur. State authorities have issued mandatory evacuations for the residents of those areas as well. Nearly 200 people were ordered to evacuate Tuesday and the orders remained in place for inhabitants of at least 75 homes who were forced to leave the region last week.

Fire fighters are also battling the 8,200-acre Piute Fire in the Sequoia National Forest east of Bakersfield.