July 25 (UPI) — California officials on Thursday extended evacuations as the Park Fire erupted in size.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the wildfire had burned 45,550 acres as of 7:34 a.m. PDT a massive increase from the 1,500 acres it had burned as of Wednesday night.
The blaze was 3% contained with a total of 216 fire personnel along with five helicopters and 24 fire engines deployed to the site.
Evacuations, which began in Butte County, were extended to Tehama County.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced on Thursday that it was opening up federal funding to help fight the fast-moving wildfire.
“The incident is under unified command with the City of Chico Fire Department as this incident started in Bidwell Park, a ‘mutual threat zone’ area of Butte County,” Cal Fire said in its summary. “The fire is well established.
“Fire personnel are currently focusing one vacuations and structure defense while concurrently building direct containment lines utilizing bulldozers, fire crews and fire engines. More resources have been ordered and are inbound from various areas throughout northern California.”
Officials established an evacuation shelter at Neighborhood Church in Chico, while animal shelters have been established at the Camelot Equestrian Park in Oroville.