Thousands of people were evacuated after a wind-driven wildfire spread across the area of the Santa Cruz Mountains on Thursday, covering 3,000 acres Friday.

The fire began before dawn Thursday and has burned at least 12 homes and endangered about 500 homes and 20 businesses, Chris Morgan of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said, according to CNN.

Authorities have ordered people in 350 homes to evacuate. Voluntary evacuation orders were also issued for another 1,400 houses.

65 engines, 500 firefighters and a swarm of tanker planes and helicopters were trying to extinguish the fire, but the efforts were fruitless.

Thursday evening, fire officials declared that 15 percent of the fire was contained but they could not estimate when the situation would be under control.

George Hoyt, a spokesman with the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said he hoped for good weather, for the winds to die and the temperatures to drop, so that the fire would be easier to fight.

No injuries were reported, but the officials haven’t yet established what the cause of the fire was.

A Red Cross evacuation center was established at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, said Officer Dinah Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, as CNN reports.