A major wildfire broke out yesterday in Shasta County near Redding, starting with many thought was a small fire, but erupted into a major blaze, causing 4 thousand evacuations, and threatened 11 hundred homes as the fire burned out of control. As of 7 pm yesterday CalFire officials said the fire was 20% contained. Shasta College was evacuated, and officials set up emergency shelters. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it cut power to 1,211 customers at Cal Firea s request once the fire started. The shutoff wasna t part of the troubled utilitya s program that calls for imposing blackouts during dry, windy days to prevent fires from starting. The fire had the potential to become the most serious of what has been a relatively modest wildfire season so far. Only a few thousand acres have burned across California, compared to last yeara s 1.9 million acres, a modern record. Evacuations have been minimal. This most recent fire however could be another major disaster. This is now being called the first major wildfire of this season.