Massive wildfire forces evacuations at UC Santa Cruz

Students and employees at the University of California Santa Cruz have been forced to evacuate due to a wildfire that is raging out of control in northern California.

The CZU Lightning Complex Fire is now at 48,000 acres with no containment, CAL FIRE announced Thursday night. More than 20,000 structures are threatened and 50 are destroyed, the agency said during a 6 p.m. update.

In an emergency declaration on Thursday night, the university said all employees and students living in campus housing must immediately leave and be prepared to not return for at least two weeks.

The statement said police officers would be going door to door to evacuate those remaining on campus. Those who enter the campus after the evacuation order may be found guilty of a criminal offense.

The university has set up an evacuation center for students and employees living on campus. More details can be found on their Facebook page.