California's largest active wildfire exploded Friday evening, growing rapidly amid dry fuels and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to contain the danger.
The intensity and dramatic spread of the Park Fire has drawn fire officials comparisons to the wild Camp Fire that raged in 2018, killing 85 people and burning 11,000 homes.
More than 130 structures have been destroyed by the fire so far, and thousands more are under evacuation orders in Butte, Plumas, Tehama and Shasta counties. It was at 480 square miles (1,243 square kilometers) on Friday night and was moving quickly north and east after catching fire on Wednesday when authorities said a man pushed a burning car into a sinkhole in Chico and then He calmly mingled with the others fleeing the scene.
“There's a tremendous amount of fuel out there and it's going to continue at this rapid rate,” Cal Fire incident commander Billy C. said at a briefing. The fire was advancing up to 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) per hour on Friday afternoon, he said.
Lassen Volcanic National Park officials evacuated staff from Mineral, a community of about 120 that is home to park headquarters, as the fire moved north toward Highway 36 and east into the park.
Other communities in the western United States and Canada were under siege Friday as a fast-moving wildfire sparked by lightning sent people fleeing on burning roads in rural Idaho to a new blaze that prompted evacuations. It was sent in eastern Washington.
In eastern Oregon, a pilot in a small air tanker plane was killed while fighting one of the wildfires that has spread across several western states.
More than 110 active fires were burning in the United States on Friday, covering 2,800 square miles (7,250 square kilometers), according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Some of it was due to weather, as climate change increases the frequency of lightning strikes as the region experiences record heat and bone-dry conditions.
A wildfire in eastern Washington destroyed three homes and five buildings near the Tyler neighborhood, which was evacuated Friday afternoon, said Ryan Ruddock, 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 kilometers), he said.
In Chico, California, Carly Parker is one of hundreds of people who fled their homes as the Park Fire approached. Parker decided to leave his Woodland Farm residence with his family when the fire started across the street. He has already been forced to leave two homes by fire, and he said he has little hope that his residence will survive.
“I think I felt in danger because the police had come to our house because we had signed up for early evacuation notices, and they were running to their vehicle after they told us to evacuate. turn back.” said Parker, a mother of five.
Ronnie Dean Stout, 42, of Chico, was arrested early Thursday in connection with the fire and is being held without bail pending a Monday arraignment, authorities said. There was no response to an email to the district attorney asking if the suspect had legal representation or if anyone could comment on his behalf.
Forest Service spokeswoman Adrienne Freeman said fire crews were making progress on another set of fires in the Plumas National Forest near the California-Nevada line. Most of the 1,000 residents who were evacuated after the fire at the Golden Thunder Complex were returning to their homes on Friday. Some crews were breaking away to help fight the park fire.
“As the West (Park) fire shows, some of these fires are completely explosive and burning at a rate that's hard to even imagine,” said Tim Hayek, Forest Service incident commander for the Tala Complex Fire. 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Reno, he said Friday. “Fire doesn't look bad until it looks bad. And then it might be too late.”
Sherry Alpers, a runaway from Forest Farm, escaped with her 12 small dogs and decided to stay in her car outside a Red Cross shelter in Chico after learning the animals were banned. She declined a trip to another shelter after learning the dogs were kept in cages because her dogs always roamed freely in her home.
Alpers said she doesn't know if the fire saved her house, but she said she doesn't care about the material as long as her dogs are safe.
“I'm kind of worried, but not that much,” he said. “If it's gone, it's gone.”
Brian Bowles was also staying in his car outside the shelter with his dog, Damon. He said he did not know if his mobile home was still standing.
Bowles said he only has a $100 gift card he received from the United Way, which he gives to evacuees.
Now the question is, should I get a comfortable motel room for one night? Or should I put gas in the car and sleep here?” He said. “Hard choice.”
In Oregon, a Grant County search and rescue team found a small single-engine air tanker Friday morning that went missing while battling the 219-square-mile (567-square-kilometer) Falls Fire near the town of Seneca and the Malheur National Forest. . Bureau of Land Management information officer Lisa Clark said the pilot died. No one else was on board the contract plane when it crashed in steep, forested terrain.
The worst damage so far occurred in Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies, where a fast-moving fire forced 25,000 people to flee and destroyed the park's namesake town, a World Heritage Site.
In Idaho, lightning caused rapid wildfires and the evacuation of several communities. The fire was burning in about 80 square kilometers on Friday afternoon.
Videos posted on social media include a man who said he heard an explosion as he fled Joliet, about 27 miles southeast of the University of Idaho campus in Moscow. The town of more than 600 residents was evacuated Thursday just before the raging fires, as were several other neighborhoods near the Clearwater River and the Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery, which raises salmon. .
Officials said Friday morning that there was no estimate yet on the number of burned buildings in Idaho, nor was there information on damage to urban communities.
Oregon still has the largest active fire in the United States, the Durkee Fire, which combined with the Cattle Fire, burning nearly 1,630 square kilometers. It remains unpredictable, with only 20 percent in control on Friday, according to the government website InciWeb.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, more than 27,000 fires have burned more than 15,000 square kilometers in the United States and more than 22,800 square kilometers in more than 3,700 fires so far this year, according to the National Wildfire Status Report. Is. Issued on Wednesday.
