WEED, Calif. — Dan Linville and his son were sitting in their living room when they smelled smoke. When they looked outside, they saw a black cloud coming over the hills.

Ten minutes later, a fire driven by fierce winds raced through their neighborhood, missing them by three houses and torching a roof across the street.

Officials said the fire damaged or destroyed 100 homes in this tiny town near the Oregon border on Monday and forced the evacuation of at least 1,500 people.

The Linvilles figure a quarter of the town burned.

“It’s horrible,” said Linville, 80.

“I’ve got tears in my heart for all these people that I know who lost their homes.”