(Los Angeles) Firefighters continued to battle a megafire raging across northern California Sunday amid increasingly favorable conditions for its spread, including increased winds and rising temperatures, authorities said.
The Park Fire, which started near the small town of Chico, had burned more than 350,000 acres by Sunday night, Billy See of the state agency Cal Fire reported, making it the seventh-most destructive wildfire in California history.
Progress was made Saturday in light winds and cool temperatures, allowing firefighters to control 12 percent of the Park Fire, See said at a news conference.
But conditions were more difficult on Sunday, he said, citing more intense heat and stronger winds.
The fire has so far forced the evacuation of 4,200 people from Butte County and is burning in a mountainous region about 90 miles (145 kilometers) from Sacramento, the state capital.
Firefighters are having to fight on uneven terrain as fire activity “strengthens”, warned Mark Brunton, the operations manager.
Around 4,000 personnel, air assets and bulldozers are being mobilised against the fire, which has not yet caused any deaths. However, it has destroyed or damaged 67 buildings, according to Mr See.
PHOTO FRED GREAVES, REUTERS
Thousands of officers are working to contain the fire.
Chico is located about 15 miles from Paradise, a town devastated in 2018 by California’s deadliest wildfire, killing 85 people.
Smoke from the Park Fire has been blown by winds into other neighboring states.
On Thursday, police arrested a 42-year-old man suspected of starting the fire by sending a burning car into a ravine.
Scientists believe that climate change is increasing the intensity of weather-related disasters.
In Oregon, the Durkee Fire, which broke out earlier in July, has burned nearly 650,000 acres and is about 50 percent contained, the state’s wildfire agency said.