California’s largest wildfire doubles in size and destroys scores of buildings

The Park fire in Butte County — the largest blaze in California this year — exploded to more than 164,000 acres by Friday morning, with its rapid spread destroying scores of buildings and forcing more evacuations.

The growth of the fire over two days amid steady winds and hot temperatures has been dramatic, with its remote location making it difficult to fight. It was listed at 164,286 acres Friday morning and what little containment crews had on the fire Thursday — listed at 3% — had been lost and containment was reduced to 0%, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection website.

Conditions on the ground are going to continue to be a challenge, forecasters say.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the northern Sacramento Valley through late Friday, including the region where the fire is spreading. Forecasters warned there could be wind gusts up to 30 mph pushing the blaze north combined with low humidity, which “can cause new fire starts and ongoing wildfires to ... grow rapidly and dangerously in size and intensity.”

At least 134 buildings have been confirmed destroyed, and another 4,000 are threatened, according to Cal Fire.

“This fire is moving very rapidly and very quickly,” said Garrett Sjolund, the fire chief for Cal Fire’s Butte County unit.

Firefighters remained focused on protecting the communities around the fire Friday, including Cohasset and Forest Ranch, where about 4,000 people were evacuated. Some neighborhoods in northeast Chico were also evacuated, affecting about 400 people, along with several areas of Tehama County, authorities said.

The fire is burning north into the Ishi Wilderness and Lassen foothills, which experts say hasn’t seen fire activity in decades, if not a century.

“Once it got into that area, it had a lot of fuel to consume,” said Dan Collins, a Cal Fire spokesperson for the Butte Unit.

Zeke Lunder, a fire specialist and geographer based in Chico, agreed with Collins and said the lack of recent fires has made the area a jackpot for flames.

Ronnie Dean Stout II, a 42-year-old Chico man, was arrested on suspicion of starting the Park fire.

(Butte County District Attorney’s Office)

“A lot of us who work in fire have kind of been waiting for this fire to happen for the last 25 years,” he said.

On Thursday, authorities announced they had arrested 42-year-old Ronnie Dean Stout II, a Chico resident, on suspicion or arson. Prosecutors said the man pushed a burning car into a gully, starting the fast-moving fire.

“It is maddening that we’re here again, and it is particularly maddening that this particular fire was caused by an individual,” said Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea. “During this particular time of year, we are under a very high threat for fire.”

The Park fire was one of several burning in California:

• A fast-moving fire near Lake Elsinore on Thursday forced the evacuation of dozens of homes. The 145-acre Macy fire broke out in vegetation around 5:40 p.m. An evacuation order was issued for west of Grand Avenue as the fire spread.
• The Flynn fire temporarily closed Interstate 580 in Altamont and burned more than 300 acres.

Sjolund, the fire chief in Butte County, said he’s hopeful an expected drop in temperatures this weekend could assist in fighting the Park fire and others across the region.

“It’s kind of a moving target with the way the weather patterns are coming in,” he said.