Wildfire in park grows into California’s sixth largest wildfire of all time

Thousands of firefighters battling a massive wildfire in Northern California were working in cooler temperatures and higher humidity on Monday, but the blaze that has destroyed more than 100 structures since it began five days ago continues to grow.

The Park Fire, which authorities said was started by a man who pushed a burning car into a ravine, grew slightly overnight to 368,000 acres (148,924 hectares). The sixth-largest wildfire in state history is raging in a remote area about 180 miles (290 km) northeast of San Francisco, according to Cal Fire.

Crews “still faced quite a firefight today, just because of the magnitude and size of the fire,” said Cal Fire captain Dan Collins, noting that temperatures were expected to be in the 80s with a 25% humidity percentage during the day. .

About 4,800 firefighters were building and reinforcing control lines on Monday morning, hoping to increase the 12% they had contained. More favorable weather conditions compared to what they have faced in recent days are helping, Collins added.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in a statement that arson defendant Ronnie Dean Stout II was ordered held without bail on a Butte County judge’s warrant after being identified as the person seen pushing a car on fire in a ravine on Wednesday afternoon.

The fire grew rapidly, doubling in size from Friday to Sunday and destroying at least 114 structures in four counties.

The fire also caused authorities to issue warnings and evacuation orders for several communities, including Paradise, the town that was devastated by the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest in the state’s history.

Cal Fire also reported Monday that 33% of the SQF Lightning Complex was contained. This fire has been burning for the past two weeks, about 350 miles (563 km) south of the Park Fire. Part of that complex, nicknamed the Borel Fire, swept through Havilah, setting much of that historic gold mining town on fire on Friday.

The fires in the Park and Borel were just two of 102 large fires active across the country. A total of 25 had forced evacuations as of Monday morning, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

A cold front across the Pacific Northwest, where many of the fires are burning, was forecast to bring rain and thunderstorms to the region on Monday. However, the system will withstand strong wind gusts of up to 80 kilometers per hour, which could hamper firefighting efforts, the center said in a statement.

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