(Chico) An out-of-control wildfire in northern California has become one of the largest ever recorded in the western U.S. state in three days, authorities said Saturday.
The Park Fire — the most intense wildfire to hit California this summer — had consumed nearly 350,000 acres by late Saturday morning, making it the seventh-largest blaze in state history, the state agency Cal Fire said.
The fire, which forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate, broke out in a rural, mountainous area near the small town of Chico, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Sacramento, the state capital.
“The extreme conditions of this fire continue to pose a challenge for firefighters. At this time, it is only 0% contained,” despite the efforts of approximately 2,500 personnel, more than a dozen helicopters and several planes, according to the agency.
“The +Park Fire+ continued to burn very actively due to steep terrain and winds […] which are causing a sharp increase,” Cal Fire said.
The agency said, however, that cooler and wetter weather is expected in the region.
Police arrested a 42-year-old man suspected of starting the fire by pushing a burning car into a ravine.
The fire broke out Wednesday near Chico, Butte County, and within hours devastated a large area as well as neighboring Tehama County.
According to the latest information, 134 buildings have already been destroyed.
The fire generated a huge column of dense gray smoke that also reached neighboring states.
Like other residents, Julia Yarbough watched her home burn to the ground. “This is what’s left of my house,” she told CBS, pointing to the blackened, still-smoldering debris.
This huge forest fire brings back painful memories for residents of the town of Paradise, located about fifteen kilometers from Chico, and where 85 people died in 2018 in the deadliest fire in California history.
Due to the rapid spread of the Park Fire, Paradise has been placed under an evacuation alert.
Repeated heat waves are a marker of global warming linked to climate change caused by humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels, scientists say.