The Park Fire burns along Highway 32 in the Forest Ranch community in Butte County, Calif., as seen in this long exposure photo, Thursday, July 25, 2024.
Noah Berger/AP
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Noah Berger/AP
California’s largest wildfire broke out Friday evening, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to contain the danger.
The Park Fire’s intensity and dramatic spread have led fire officials to draw unwelcome comparisons to the devastating Camp Fire that burned out of control in nearby Paradise in 2018, killing 85 people and burning 11,000 homes.
The fire has so far destroyed more than 130 structures, threatened thousands, and ordered evacuations in four counties: Butte, Plumas, Tehama and Shasta. It was 480 square miles (1,243 square kilometers) Friday night and was moving rapidly north and east after igniting Wednesday, when a man drove a burning car into a ravine in Chico and then quietly mingled with others.
“There’s a tremendous amount of fuel out there that’s going to continue at this rapid rate,” Cal Fire incident commander Billy See told a news conference. He said the fire was moving up to 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) per hour on Friday afternoon.
Firefighter Christian battles the Moorhouse Park Fire tear through the Cohasset community in Butte County, California on July 25, 2024. His crew was able to stop the flames from reaching the mobile home they were protecting.
Noah Berger/AP
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Lassen Volcanoes National Park officials evacuated employees from Mineral, a community of about 120 people where the park is headquartered, as the fire moved north along Highway 36 and east into the park.
Communities across the American West and elsewhere in Canada were under siege Friday as a fast-moving blaze sparked by lightning sent people fleeing fire ring roads in rural Idaho to new blazes in eastern Washington.
The pilot of a small air tanker that crashed in eastern Oregon while fighting several wildfires raging across several western states has been found dead.
The National Interagency Fire Center reported more than 110 active fires burning in the United States on Friday, covering 2,800 square miles (7,250 square kilometers). Some are caused by weather, with climate change increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the region endures hotter and bone-dry conditions.
A fire in eastern Washington destroyed three homes and five buildings near the community of Tyler, which was evacuated Friday afternoon, said Ryan Rodruck, a spokesman for the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Firefighters were able to contain the Columbia Basin Fire in Spokane County to about half a square mile (1.3 square km).
In Chico, California, Carly Parker was among hundreds who fled their homes as the Park Fire approached. Parker decided to leave his forest farmhouse with his family when the fire started to burn across the street. He had previously been evacuated from two houses by the fire, and said he had no hope that his residence would remain unscathed.
“I think I’m in danger because the police come to our house because we signed up for early evacuation warnings, and they run to their vehicle and tell us we have to evacuate on our own, and they won’t leave. Come back,” said Parker, a mother of five.
Ronnie Dean Stout, 42, of Chico, was arrested early Thursday in connection with the fire and was being held without bail pending an arraignment Monday, authorities said. Emails sent to the district collector asking whether the suspect had legal representation or could comment on his behalf did not receive a response.
Forest Service spokeswoman Adrian Freeman said firefighters are making progress on another complex of fires burning in the Plumas National Forest near the California-Nevada line. Most of the 1,000 residents who were evacuated from the Gold Complex fire, which was sparked by lightning, were returning home Friday. Some crews were scrambling to fight the park fire.
“As evidenced by the (park) fire out west, it’s hard to even imagine the rate at which some of these fires will completely explode,” Tim Haig, Forest Service incident commander for the Gould Complex fire, about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Reno, said Friday. “The fire doesn’t look bad until then. Then it might be too late.”
Forest Farm evacuee Sherri Albers, who escaped with her 12 small dogs, decided to stay in her car outside the Red Cross in Chico after learning the animals couldn’t be allowed inside. After learning that the dogs would be kept in cages, she ruled out moving to another shelter because her dogs always roam free in her home.
Albers said she doesn’t know if the fire saved her house or not, but she said she doesn’t care about material things as long as her dogs are safe.
“I’m kind of worried, but not that much,” she said. “When it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Brian Bowles stayed outside the shelter with his dog, Diamon, in his car. He said he did not know if his mobile home was still standing.
Bowles said he only had a $100 gift card he received from the United Way, which gave them to evacuees.
“Now the question is, am I comfortable with a motel room and one night? Or can I put gas in the car and sleep here?” he said. “A tough choice.”
In Oregon, the Grant County Search and Rescue team on Friday morning found a small single-engine air tanker that went missing while the 219-square-mile (567 square kilometer) Falls Fire burned near the town of Seneca and the Malheur National Forest. . Bureau of Land Management information officer Lisa Clark said the pilot was killed. There was no one else on the bureau-contracted plane when it went over steep, forested terrain.
The worst damage so far has been in Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies, where fast-moving wildfires forced the evacuation of 25,000 people and destroyed the town named after the park, a World Heritage Site.
A vehicle crosses a raging river of fire before closing U.S. Highway 12, Thursday, July 25, 2024, near Myrtle, Idaho. Lightning strikes have sparked fast-moving wildfires in Idaho, prompting the evacuation of many communities.
August Frank/AP/Lewiston Tribune
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In Idaho, lightning strikes caused fast-moving wildfires and the evacuation of many communities. The fire was burning about 31 square miles (80 square kilometers) Friday afternoon.
Videos posted on social media include reports of an explosion as they left Juliata, about 27 miles (43 kilometers) southeast of the University of Idaho campus in Moscow. The town of more than 600 residents was evacuated Thursday, as were several communities near the Clearwater River and the Nez Perce tribal hatchery complex that raises salmon, shortly before the blaze.
Officials said Friday morning that there was no estimate yet on the number of buildings burned in Idaho, nor information on damage to urban communities.
Oregon still has the largest active blaze in the United States, the Turkey Fire, which combined with the Cattle Fire burned nearly 630 square miles (1,630 square kilometers). According to government website InciWeb, it remains unpredictable and was only 20% on Friday.
More than 27,000 fires have burned over 5,800 square miles (15,000 square kilometers) in the United States this year, and more than 3,700 have burned over 8,000 square miles (22,800 square kilometers) in Canada, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. So far, according to its National Wildfire Situation Report released Wednesday.
