Banning Fire Today Burns 3,000 Acres in California, 420 Firefighters Battling Flames (VIDEO)

May 02, 2013 04:05 PM EDT | Matt Mercuro

Over 425 firefighters are battling a deadly fire in South California that has already reached over 3,000 acres of land according to ABC News.

The fire has forced approximately 500 people to evacuate their homes near Banning in the Inland Empire section of C.A. Most residents have been allowed to return to their homes however according to ABC News.

Dozens of helicopters and air tankers have been busy dropping water and retardant on the fire, but rescue workers have had a hard time fighting off the heavy winds.

"The fire is being pushed by this wind, very challenging today," a firefighter said to ABC News. "Any little spark across the line and the fire will take off and run on us again."

Multiple RVs in a parking lot were destroyed as flames reached a mobile home park according to CBS News.

Firefighters had the fire at around 40 percent contained at daylight according to California Fire spokeswoman Jody Hagemann.

The National Weather Services stated that winds could reach between 25 to 30 mph, and gusts at 60 mph are possible throughout the day. The heavy wind should die down towards the end of the day, but a second peak of high winds is expected for Friday morning according to the NWS.

"If the winds die down, firefighters will be able to get busy on the ground and hopefully we can hook this fire. But if we get strong, erratic winds throughout the evening, that could create quite a challenge," John Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, said to ABC.

Most road closures have been lifted as well, except for locations where at least one home was burned according to ABC News.

Temperatures in Banning reached between 84 and 88 today as well.

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