California Wildfire Now State’s Fourth Largest on Record, 540 Structures Destroyed

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Firefighters have increased containment on the Park Fire near Chico, California, which at 621-square-miles as of Friday is now the fourth largest wildfire in history.

The fire, which covers parts of four counties—Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama—has a massive amount of resources assigned to it. More than 6,000 firefighters, 537 engines, 148 water tenders and 41 helicopters are fighting the blaze.

Authorities say 540 structures have been destroyed and 50 structures were damaged. Most of the structures destroyed (411) were in Butte County. The majority of the fire (340,013 acres) is now in Tehama County.

Several evacuation orders and warnings are still in place. Several roads remain closed.

“The primary carrier of this fire are the annual grasses and brush, with mixed timber. Fire in deep drainages, lava rock, and heavy fuels continue to make suppression difficult,” a CalFire update states. “Fixed wing aircraft have been prevented from operating in some drainages due to limited visibility from the thick smoke. Crews continue to build containment lines and conduct structure defense in affected areas.”

The fire is now at 397,629 acres and is 24% contained. It was 18% contained on Wednesday, and it was 12% contained on Tuesday.

The Park Fire started on July 24. A Chico man accused of setting the fire by pushing a flaming vehicle into a grassy area was arrested, and he has said it was an accident.

Other large fires burning in California include the 2024 SQF Lightning Complex fire in Tulare which is 91,798 acres and 49% contained, the Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County (38,664 acres and 95% 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, 4,696 wildfires have burned 768,137 acres so far this year, and 821 structures have been reported damaged or destroyed.

The Park Fire is now fourth on the list of largest fires in California, passing the Creek Fire in 2020 in Fresno County at 379,895 acres and the SCU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020 at 396,625 acres. 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: Park Fire in California. Source: CalFire.

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