Mariposa , California ( CNN ) -- A campfire left untended sparked a blaze near Yosemite National Park that is threatening hundreds of homeowners , but firefighters are starting to get a handle on it . About 500 homes are under mandatory evacuation orders , including one that belongs to Mariposa County Supervisor Kevin Cann . `` My cats are with some friends and the dogs are with some other friends , '' Cann told CNN affiliate KGPE . `` When you are evacuated , it makes you think , '' he said . `` I 've been in that house 23 years and it makes you think about what 's really important ; what do you have to take , and , in the end , it 's not all that much . '' The quickly spreading flames forced many , like Orlando Vigil , to flee in a hurry . He made it out safely , but had to drop the animals from his property at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds . They 're safe now , but he 's not so sure about his home . `` We 'll see if there 's anything when we get back , '' Vigil said . Beating back the fire . More than 2,000 firefighters are battling the blaze in the steep , rugged terrain west of Yosemite . Summer wildfires are nothing new in California . But this one is happening weeks earlier than normal , and comes as parts of the state experience `` exceptional '' dryness that could fuel flames . `` We usually see this sort of fire behavior in August . This is June , '' said Gary Wuchner , fire spokesman for Yosemite National Park . `` It 's making us nervous . '' The Carstens Fire was first spotted Sunday afternoon , after embers from a campfire that had n't been totally put out spread into the surrounding forest . By Tuesday night , it had burned nearly 1,900 acres , of which 40 % was considered contained , according to CalFire . Some 2,200 fire personnel were working the scene , using 53 engines , 11 water tenders , seven bulldozers and other equipment . Some 800 structures are being threatened . Are you there ? Share photos , video but stay safe . Tending to the evacuees . The evacuations forced some residents into the Red Cross shelter at Mariposa Elementary School . Officials are there with food , medical help and other basics . `` We also have a mental health worker to help those that are overstressed emotionally from the ordeal of being uprooted from their home , '' Cindy Thomas of the Red Cross told KGPE . Not everyone is heeding the calls to evacuate , however . Among them is Paul `` Bear '' Vasquez . More than 37 million people have viewed his YouTube video showing him becoming overjoyed and then breaking down at the site of a vibrant double rainbow over a mountain in 2010 . Today , that mountain is singed by the Carstens Fire . But Vasquez says he 's staying on the property he bought in 1998 , hacking out of the wilderness a spot for the home where he 's raised his children . `` I am the protector of this land , '' he said . `` I am part of this place . It has magical powers , and I ca n't leave . '' CNN 's Miguel Marquez reported from Mariposa , California , and Ed Payne and Greg Botelho reported and wrote this story from Atlanta .
The fire has burned nearly 1,900 acres and is 40 % contained . seven fire personnel are fighting The Carstens Fire . The blaze is striking in and around Mariposa County near the Mariposa County Fairgrounds . The blaze comes Today before the normal start of wildfire season in California .