Wildfire in California Now State’s Fifth Largest on Record, Destroyed 277 Structures

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The Park Fire near Chico, California, at 609 square miles is now the fifth largest wildfire in history, destroying 277 structures and damaging 29, according to CalFire.

The fire covers four counties—Butte, Plumas, Shasta, Tehama—and is 389,791 acres. The fire is 18% contained, up from 12% on Tuesday. It is the nation’s largest ongoing blaze.

The Park Fire started on Wednesday. A Chico man accused of setting the fire by pushing a flaming vehicle into a grassy area was arrested last week.

Evacuation orders and warnings are still in place for several affected areas.

Other large fires burning in California include the Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County, which is 38,664 acres and is 92% contained, the 2024 SQF Lightning Complex fire in Tulare (23,369 acres and 34% contained), and the Shelly Fire in Siskiyou County (15,520 acres and 92% contained).

This month has been active for wildfires. A CalFire official said at the begging of July said this season so far looks to be another challenging one for the state.

According to CalFire, 4,613 wildfires have burned 751,327 acres so far this year, and 402 structures have been reported damaged or destroyed.

While containment on the fire is growing, CalFire cautioned the weather this week may make fighting the blaze tougher.

“The weather is expected to become much warmer and drier later this week, with some winds and potential for thunderstorms it is advised to be cautious during this time,” a CalFire update states. “Fire crews are providing structure defense where needed, they are attempting to complete containment lines in some areas and gain a stronghold in the challenging topography while also engaging in mop-up where applicable.”

The Park Fire is now fifth on the list of largest fires in California, passing the Creek Fire in 2020 in Fresno County at 379,895 acres. The SCU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020 at 396,625 acres is fourth on the list, the Mendocino Complex Fire in 2018 at 459,123 acres is third on the list, the Dixie Fire in 2021 at 963,309 acres was second on the list and the August Complex Fire in 2020 was more than 1 million acres was the state’s largest wildfire.

Nine of the top 10 largest wildfires in the state have occurred after 2017, according to CalFire.

Top photo: Firefighter fighting the Park Fire near Chico, California in July, 2024. Source: CalFire.

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