Major wildfires burning across the West have consumedtens of thousands of acres and forced evacuations in at least threestates.

Firefighters are trying to contain a growing wildfire in coastalSouthern California and a larger blaze in rural New Mexico as hotweather and wind feed flames.

Sherpa Fire

The biggest concern is the so-called Sherpa Fire in Santa BarbaraCounty, California. The Sherpa Fire in California grew toabout 1,400 acres overnight after forcing authorities to evacuate400 homes and businesses and to close part of the 101 Freeway,according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office andReuters.

The fire is tearing through coastal canyons west of SantaBarbara, scorching an area that hadn't burned in 60 years,according to Fox News.

Winds gusting to nearly 40 mph pushed the fire close to anExxonMobil crude oil processing facility that employs about 250workers, CBS News reported. ExxonMobil evacuatednon-essential employees from the Las Flores Canyon site, and thosethat remained through the night helped protect it against theflames, company spokesman Todd Spitler said.

By morning, the fire posed little risk to the facility with acleared buffer zone, Zaniboni said.

New Mexico Dog Head and North Fires

Southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Dog Head Fire, whichbroke out on Tuesday about 6 miles northwest of the town ofTajique, has also forced evacuations and grown to about 16,000acres overnight. The fire destroyed 24 homes and 21 otherstructures, InciWebreported.

New Mexico's Torrance County Sheriff Heath White said onThursday that his office was evacuating about 200 people.

The largest of these fires, the North Fire, has burned more than26,000 acres in the San Mateo Mountains of southwestern New Mexicoover the course of nearly a month. The lightning-caused NorthFire started May 21 in the Cibola National Forest and is only 30%contained.

Cedar Creek Fire in Arizona

A wildfire near Show Low, Arizona, started Wednesday and swiftlygrew in size. The so-called Cedar Creek Fire has burned nearlyfour square miles of brush and timber in rugged terrain about ninemiles from Show Low, and thousands of area residents remain underpre-evacuation advisories.

Navajo County spokesman Adam Wolfe said only about a dozenpeople have been evacuated.

Heat wave

The weather service issuedexcessive heat warnings for areas in the U.S. Southwest,including California, Nevada and Arizona and New Mexico. Itsforecast office in Phoenix predicted temperatures as high as 119degrees Fahrenheit in the coming days, which would exceed recordhighs.

Here are photos from the most dangerous wildfires currentlyburning in the Western U.S.:

Firefighters from the Lompoc City Fire Department takeshelter behind their engine Thursday as wind-driven flames advancefrom the Sherpa Fire. The flames were crossing Calle Real near ElCapitan State Park in Santa Barbara County. (Photo: MikeEliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP Photo)

Navajo County Sheriff KC Clark, second from left, listensduring a wildfire briefing from a U.S. Forest Service official onFort Apache Indian Reservation, Ariz., on Thursday. Fire lines wereholding Thursday in the fight against a wildfire threateningseveral communities with thousands of residents in east-centralArizona. (Photo: James Molesa of the Navajo County Sheriff's Officevia AP Photo)

Smoke from a wind-driven brush fire on the southwest edge ofReno, Nev., blows across town as about 100 firefighters battled theblaze Wednesday. No mandatory evacuations had been ordered butabout a two dozen homes were threatened in the Caughlin Ranch areaneighborhoods on the edge of the foothills of the Sierra's easternfront. (Photo: Scott Sonner/AP Photo)

The sky turns golden over the mountains as the sun sets lateThursday in Denver. Smoke from the Dog Head Fire in central NewMexico has left a haze over Denver and eastern Colorado onThursday, prompting air quality alerts for residents with breathingproblems. (Photo: David Zalubowski/AP Photo)

Santa Barbara County firefighters watch as a wildfire burnswest of Goleta, Calif., Thursday. (Photo: Nick Ut/APPhoto)

A firefighter knocks down flames as they approach a ranchnear the Las Flores Canyon area west of Goleta, Calif., in theearly morning hours of Thursday. (Photo: Mike Eliason/SantaBarbara County Fire Department via AP Photo)

This photo provided by Los Padres Forest Aviation andKEYT-TV shows a wildfire burning in Los Padres National Forest,north of Santa Barbara, on Wednesday in Goleta, Calif. The SantaBarbara County Sheriff’s Office says mandatory evacuations havebeen ordered for Refugio Canyon, Venadito Canyon and Las FloresCanyon, which includes an ExxonMobil refinery. (Photo: MarkNunez/Los Padres Forest Aviation/KEYT-TV via AP Photo)

In this image made from video, a helicopter makes a waterdrop over a wildfire in a remote coastal area west of SantaBarbara, Calif., on Thursday. A fleet of aircraft dropped water andretardant to combat a wind-driven wildfire burning out of controlThursday. (Photo: KABC-7 via AP Photo)

In this image made from video, a wildfire burns in a remotecoastal area west of Santa Barbara, Calif., on Thursday. A fleet ofaircraft dropped water and retardant to combat a wind-drivenwildfire burning out of control there. (Photo: KABC-7 via APPhoto)

A skycrane helicopter makes an emergency water drop onto theUS Highway 101 center divider near the El Capitan State ParkThursday. Wind-driven flames from the Sherpa Fire pushed down thecanyon and near the freeway. (Photo: Mike Eliason/Santa BarbaraCounty Fire Department via AP Photo)

Related: It's wildfire season: 5 things your clients need toknow