As The Chronicle and NBC Bay Area report, firefighters today are battling a wild blaze being called the Washington Fire.

As of this afternoon, the fire had consumed 9,500 acres of bone-dry forests south of Lake Tahoe. It's now seemingly set its sights on the small Sierra town of Markleevile, with reinforcements on the way and the population on standby for potential evacuation.

The fire broke out roughly 10 miles south of the town. 300 firefighters are hard at work containing the fire and will soon be joined by another 200 men and women.

Update: News outlets like ABC News 10 are now noting that the fire was likely caused by a lightning strike. It's now grown to cover more than 14,942 acres.

"The extreme fire activity being witnessed with the Washington Fire is primarily due to strong erratic winds and severe drought conditions. These two variables also played a role in firefighting efforts for both air and ground support," said the Carson City Bureau of Land Management. While firefighting crews focus their work on the northwest flank of the fire to protect Markleeville, The National Weather Service in Reno issued the following tweet to promote evacuation preparedness.