The Park Fire in Northern California quickly grew to more than 840,000 acres Friday night, fueled by wind and steep terrain, officials said. What was already the largest wildfire in California this year is now the largest in state history.
The fire, which officials suspect was the result of arson, started near Chico and quickly exploded, fueled by extreme heat and dense, dry brush. So far, the blaze has continued unabated, burning at a rate of 4,000 to 5,000 acres per hour and scorching rugged, difficult terrain filled with grass, brush, timber and dead vegetation, officials said Friday.
According to Cal Fire, the fire is currently 0 percent contained and evacuation orders have been issued in Butte, Tehama and Shasta counties as the fire moves rapidly on the northern and eastern flanks. The fire has moved north towards the city of Redding, According to fire maps and experts, the fire is crossing Highway 36, threatening small towns like Shingletown and Manton.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency in Butte and Tehama counties on Friday in response to the fire. In a statement, he said, “We are using all available resources to protect lives and property as our fire and emergency response teams work around the clock to combat these challenging fires.”
The erratic winds and high temperatures have left firefighters scrambling to mount an attack, with most of their resources being directed toward defending communities in the path of the wildfire. Crews had previously reported a 3 percent containment on Friday, but that and then dropped back to zero.
“This fire has fingers that are growing in different directions depending on which way the wind is blowing,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
Thousands of people in Butte County, where the fire started, Tehama and Shasta Counties were ordered to evacuate. CalFire said in an update Friday that 4,200 structures were threatened and 134 were destroyed.
On Friday evening, the town of Paradise, which was hit by the Camp Fire in 2018, issued an evacuation warning due to “fire behavior and forecasted wind gusts” and urged residents to prepare to evacuate and wait for further information.
UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain described the spread of the wildfire as “staggering” in a social media post, saying it was “rewriting the history books.”
“This is California in the Pyrocene,” Swain wrote, referring to an era marked by human-caused fire activity, “and a few mild fire years (2022/3) do not change that trajectory long term.”
