A fire on Piute Mountain has burned more than 1,000 acres Sunday, causing some small communities to be recommended for evacuation.

About 25 structures in the French Meadow and Brown's Meadow areas are threatened by the fire, according to Capt. Alex Entenman. Sheriff's deputies are going door to door to recommend evacuation. Many of the structures in the area are vacation homes, Entenman said. Only a "handful" are use year round, he said.

Firefighters are also warning residents in Claraville that they might need to evacuate eventually.

An evacuation center has been set up in Lake Isabella.

The fire was just 3 percent contained as of Sunday afternoon.

The fire began Saturday around 3 p.m. and by Sunday morning had reached 500 acres. Just a few hours later the estimate of burned acreage had doubled to 1,000.

More than 300 firefighters from the Kern County Fire Department, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Cal Fire were working the blaze Sunday afternoon.

The fire was moving at a moderate pace and is burning lots of heavy timber and brush, Entenman said. That's generating a lot of smoke — and concern among residents in the area.

"We're getting a lot of phone calls," Entenman said.

Entenman had no estimate for when the fire might be contained, but said it would not be under control by Sunday. A federal "incident management team," which specializes in overseeing large fires or disasters, had been called in, Entenman said.

"Usually, when they call in (an incident management team) they expect the fire to go for at least a couple days," he said.

The evacuation center will be located at Kern Valley High School, 3340 Erskine Creek Road. For more information on the fire, check back later or visit