California's largest fire erupted on Friday evening, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to tackle the blaze.
The Park Fire's intensity and dramatic spread have led fire officials to draw unexpected comparisons to the devastating Camp Fire, which burned out of control in nearby Paradise in 2018, killing 85 people and burned 11,000 houses.
More than 130 homes have been destroyed by the fire so far, and thousands more are at risk as evacuations have been ordered in four counties: Butte, Plumas, Tehama and Shasta. It covered 480 square miles (1,243 square kilometers) on Friday night and was rapidly moving north and east after catching fire on Wednesday when authorities said a man pushed a burning car into a ravine in Chico and then mixed with peace with others who fled the incident.
“There's a lot of oil out there and it's going to continue at a rapid rate,” Cal Fire incident commander Billy See said at a news conference. He said the fire was moving up to 21 square miles per hour Friday afternoon.
Lassen Volcanic Park officials evacuated workers from Mineral, a community of about 120 people that is home to the park's headquarters, as they headed north on Highway 36. the fire and headed east toward the park.
Communities in other parts of the Western United States and Canada were under siege on Friday, as fast-moving flames sparked by lightning sent people fleeing fire roads in rural Idaho to 'the new flame that caused the evacuation in eastern Washington.
In eastern Oregon, a pilot was found dead in a small plane that crashed while fighting one of the wildfires that have spread across the western state.
More than 110 active fires covering 2,800 square miles (7,250 square kilometers) were burning in the United States on Friday, the National Interagency Fire Center said. Some are caused by climate, with climate change increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the region endures heat and cold conditions.
A wildfire in eastern Washington destroyed three homes and five outbuildings 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 km2), he said.
In Chico, California, Carli Parker was one of hundreds of people who fled their homes as the Park Fire approached. Parker decided to leave his Forest Ranch home with his family when the fire started burning across the street. He had previously been forced out of two buildings, and said he had little hope that his home would be safe.
“I think I felt threatened because the police came to our house because we had signed the pre-vacation warning, and they ran to their car when they told us we needed to get out of our own way and they won't. come back,” said Parker, a mother of five.
Ronnie Dean Stout, 42, of Chico, was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of arson and is being held without bail pending a court appearance Monday, officials said. There was no response to an email to the district attorney asking if the suspect has legal representation or anyone available to comment on his behalf.
Fire crews are making progress on a number of other fires burning in the Plumas National Forest near the California-Nevada line, Forest Service spokeswoman Adrienne Freeman said. Most of the 1,000 residents displaced by the fire returned home on Friday. Some crews have pitched in to help fight the Park Fire.
“As the (Park) fire in the West shows, some of these fires are very explosive and burn at rates that are just unimaginable,” said Tim Hike, the department's commander. the forest in the Gold Complex. 80 km northwest of Reno, said Friday. “The fire wasn't that bad until it happened. And then it might be too late. “
Forest Ranch resident Sherry Alpers fled with her 12 puppies and decided to park in her car outside the Red Cross shelter in Chico after learning the animals were not allowed inside. She was ordered to go to another shelter when she learned that the dogs would be kept in cages, because her dogs were roaming freely in her home.
Alpers said he doesn't know if the fire saved his house or not, but he said as long as his dog is safe, he doesn't care about material things.
“I'm a little worried, but not too much,” he said. “If it passes, it is gone.”
Brian Bowles was also parked in his car outside the shelter with his dog Diamon. He said he did not know if his apartment was still standing.
Bowles said he only had $100 gift cards he received from the United Way, which gave them to evacuees.
“Now the question is, can I get a motel room and be comfortable for one night? Or should I put gas in the car and sleep here?” he said. “A difficult choice.”
In Oregon, Grant County Search and Rescue crews on Friday morning found a small motorized vehicle that went missing during a 219-square-mile (567-square-mile) fire near the town of Seneca and the Forest of Malheur. . The pilot died, said Lisa Clark, information officer for the Bureau of Land Management. No one else was on board the plane when it descended into a steep, wooded area.
Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies was the worst affected, with wildfires forcing 25,000 people to flee and destroying the park's namesake town, a World Heritage Site.
In Idaho, lightning caused wildfires and the evacuation of many communities. The fire burned about 80 square kilometers on Friday afternoon.
A video posted on social media showed a man saying he heard an explosion as he fled Juliaetta, about 43 kilometers southeast of the University of Idaho campus in Moscow. The town of more than 600 residents was evacuated Thursday before the fire raged, as were several other communities near the Clearwater River and the Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery Complex, which raises salmon.
There is no estimate yet on how many homes have burned in Idaho, and there are no reports of damage to urban communities, officials said Friday morning.
Oregon still has the largest wildfire in the United States, the Durkee Fire, which combined with the Cow Fire burned nearly 1,630 square kilometers. This is still unpredictable and only 20 percent was recorded on Friday, according to the government website InciWeb.
The National Interagency Fire Center says more than 27,000 fires have burned more than 15,000 square kilometers in the United States this year, and in Canada, more than 22,800 square kilometers have burned more than 3,700 fires so far, according to the report. National Wildland Fire Situation Report. came out on Wednesday.
