Steep terrain and high winds have caused the Park Fire to spread rapidly, growing to an area of over 307,000 acres in four days. Photo by Dan Reidel/EPA-EFE
July 27 (UPI) — California firefighters are scrambling to contain the massive Park Fire, which has scorched an area greater than the size of Los Angeles as of Saturday.
As of 7:54 a.m. PDT, the wildfire had burned over 307,000 acres across Butte and Tehama counties, which is a drastic increase from the 45,550 acres it had burned through as of Thursday morning.
The steep terrain and winds in the area have created conditions for an aggressively spreading fire, according to Cal Fire. Despite over 2,400 firefighting personnel being deployed to combat the blaze, it remained 0% contained as of Saturday.
The Park Fire now has grown to become the eighth-largest wildfire in California history and the largest wildfire this year. It has razed 134 buildings and continues to threaten another 4,200.
No deaths have been reported.
The fire ignited at 2:52 p.m. Wednesday in the Chico area of Butte County and was allegedly caused by a man pushing a burning car 60 feet into a gully.
Authorities on Thursday arrested 42-year-old Ronnie Dean Stout II on suspicion of arson. He was booked at Butte County Jail and is being held without bail. He is due to be arraigned Monday.
By Thursday, evacuation orders were in place for Butte County and nearby Tehama County.
In Butte County, 52,190 acres have burned, while 255,178 acres have burned in Tehama County.
The fire has forced some 4,000 Butte County residents to evacuate their homes, calling to mind the deadly Camp Fire, which killed more than 85 people in 2018.
Lauri Schwein of Paradise, who lost her home in the Camp Fire, told local news she is ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
“I’m packing up; my dog, my cat. All I can do is wait and watch and hopefully get alerts,” she said.
Just three weeks earlier, Butte County was plagued by the Thompson Fire, which burned through over 3,700 acres and destroyed more than two dozen homes and buildings.
“We are no strangers to evacuations in Butte County,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said at a news conference Friday. “We are constantly looking for the earliest opportunity to get people back in.”
California has been subject to a hotter-than-usual June, and there has been an excess of fine fuels like grass, leaves and twigs from an unusually wet winter and spring, according to Cal Fire. These factors have led to a more aggressive wildfire season than in previous years.
While the number of fires in the state is in line with the five-year average, the number of acres burned is much higher. Abnormally high temperatures persist in California translate to an even greater fire risk for the rest of the year.