Firefighters managed to halt the forward spread of a wildfire sweeping through a remote region of eastern California, yet evacuation orders for residents of hundreds of homes remained in effect, officials reported Monday evening.

The Silver Fire ignited Sunday afternoon along Route 6 in Inyo County, approximately 5 miles (8 kilometers) northeast of Bishop in the Owens Valley, near the Nevada border. Authorities were investigating the cause.

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By Monday, the fire had scorched nearly 2.5 square miles (about 6.5 square kilometers) of grass and brush, according to a post on the social platform X by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Containment had reached 47%.

Following the outbreak, evacuation orders were issued for around 800 homes near the small communities of Laws, Chalfant, and White Mountain Estates. However, officials did not provide an update Monday evening on how many residents remained under evacuation orders.

Fire crews planned to stay overnight to monitor hotspots and reinforce containment lines.

Gusts reaching 65 mph (104 kph) had restricted the deployment of water-dropping helicopters and kept air tankers grounded, Cal Fire spokesperson Chloe Castillo said earlier on Monday.

“The winds are highly unpredictable,” she noted. “At one moment, they push north; the next, they shift east.”

Cal Fire reported that the fire threatened land belonging to the Bishop Paiute Tribe, as well as habitats of endangered species such as the Owens pupfish and desert bighorn sheep.

Inyo County has experienced minimal recent rainfall and remains unusually dry, with some areas suffering from extreme drought.

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Similarly, much of Southern California is facing moderate to extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.