THOUSANDS of firefighters continue to battle the Park fire in northern California which, fueled by extreme weather conditions, has become the state’s seventh-largest blaze on record after burning for less than a week.
The Park Fire, located about 90 miles (144 km) north of the state capital Sacramento, has more than doubled in size in a 24-hour span, burning more than 350,000 acres (141,640 hectares) and spreading across four counties: Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.
“This fire surprised a lot of people with how quickly it grew,” said Jay Tracy, a spokesman for Park Fire headquarters. “It’s kind of unmatched.”
Cooler temperatures and more humid air are expected in the area, potentially aiding efforts to slow the spread of the fire, which was currently 12% contained as of Sunday morning.
Authorities have reassessed the damage caused by the fire and report 66 structures have been destroyed and thousands more remain under threat; however, there are no reports of deaths.
“Unfortunately, that number is likely to increase,” Tracy said. “Every day that number has the potential to grow – our teams are obviously not doing damage inspections when there is an active fire in an area.”
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The intensity and rapid spread of the Park Fire has led fire officials to draw unwelcome comparisons to the disastrous Camp Fire of 2018, which burned in nearby Paradise, killing 85 people and destroying 11,000 homes in what was the deadliest wildfire in California history. Paradise is once again under evacuation orders, as are several other communities in each of the four counties.
Jeremy Pierce, Cal Fire’s operations section chief, had some good news for the area, saying around noon that the southernmost part of the Park fire, closest to Paradise, was “looking really good,” with crews focused on mopping up the area over the next three days.
He also said they do not expect the fire to move further into Chico, a city of about 100,000 people located west of Paradise.
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Joe Biden has been briefed on the fires and has directed his team to do everything possible to support efforts to extinguish them, a White House official said.
Gavin Newsom has declared an emergency for Plumas, Butte and Tehama counties as thousands of residents flee their homes.
“We are using every tool available to protect lives and property as our fire and emergency response teams work around the clock to combat these challenging fires,” the California governor said in a statement.
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More than 110 active fires covering 2,800 square miles (7,250 square km) were burning in the U.S. on Friday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Some were driven by weather, with the climate crisis increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as areas experience record-breaking heat and parched conditions.
The Park Fire was blamed on arson after authorities said a man identified as Ronnie Dean Stout was seen pushing a burning car into a ravine near Chico on Wednesday, according to the Sacramento Bee. Police said they arrested him Thursday after he fled the scene with another person as the fire spread.
Stout remained in the Butte jail on Saturday and was scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
The fire is the largest of dozens of active fires across the country that have burned more than 2 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
In Oregon, several fires are burning, including the Durkee Fire, which has burned more than 288,000 acres in the eastern part of the state, authorities said.
A firefighter died after a single-engine tanker plane crashed near the Falls fire in southeastern Oregon, the US Forest Service said in a statement on Friday. (The Guardian/Z-3)
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