California Wildfires Devour Over Half a Million Acres

Active wildfires across California have consumed more than 626,000 acres as of Saturday, according to Cal Fire.

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for areas affected by two wildfires on Friday night, citing the destruction of homes and threats to infrastructure.

The proclamations cover Butte and Tehama counties, where the massive Park Fire is raging, and Plumas County, home to the smaller Gold Complex Fire.

The declarations facilitate access to unemployment benefits and waive fees to replace lost driver’s licenses and other records, providing essential support to fire victims, the governor’s office said.

Homes and infrastructure remain under threat amid California’s seven uncontained large fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

The Park Fire, which ignited at a park in Chico on Wednesday, rapidly expanded into wildlands, reaching over 348,000 acres with no containment as of Saturday afternoon. This makes it California’s seventh largest wildfire by acreage, according to Cal Fire statistics.

It is currently the largest active fire in the state.

The Gold Complex Fire, which started Monday, has burned 3,007 acres and was 50% contained by Saturday afternoon, according to Cal Fire.

The fires have forced the evacuation of thousands of residents, destroyed homes, and threatened critical infrastructure, the governor’s office said.

Federal funding has been secured to bolster the response to the Park Fire.

As of Saturday, the flames of the Park Fire have destroyed 134 structures, according to Cal Fire. Evacuations and road closures were in effect for both the Park Fire and the Gold Complex Fire, the National Interagency Fire Center said.

An evacuation warning is in effect for the entire town of Paradise, about 90 miles north of Sacramento. Residents are advised to prepare to evacuate if officials give the order. Paradise was the site of the deadly Camp Fire in 2018, which is considered the worst wildfire in modern state history.

The Park Fire has been particularly menacing, with video capturing a vortex of smoke that may have been a “firenado.”

“In several hours, the #ParkFire exploded from a 400-acre fire to a more than 71,000-acre inferno consuming everything in its path,” Cal Fire said on social media platform X on Thursday.

Authorities allege the Park Fire was started when a man pushed a car that was on fire into a gully on Wednesday.

“The car went down an embankment approximately 60 feet and burned completely, spreading flames that caused the Park Fire,” Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in a statement.

He added, “The male was then seen calmly leaving the area by blending in with the other citizens who were in the area and fleeing the rapidly evolving fire.”

A suspect, Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico, was arrested on Thursday. He was booked on suspicion of felony arson and held without bail, according to Butte County Jail records.

It wasn’t clear if Stout had legal representation. The contract public defender for Butte County did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.

Elsewhere in California, the Borel Fire, which ignited Wednesday in the Sequoia National Forest, has already burned more than 31,000 acres and tripled in size since Friday morning. The governor’s office has secured federal funding to bolster the response to this fire as well. The fire was 0% contained as of Saturday afternoon, according to the Sequoia National Forest.

In Clark County, Nevada, an air quality alert was issued due to the smoke from the Borel and Trout fires, which have drifted into the Las Vegas Valley. The Trout Fire ignited on July 13, according to Cal Fire. It has burned more than 22,000 acres and is 25% contained, per the Sequoia National Forest.

The National Weather Service field office in Hanford said law enforcement is assisting with evacuations due to the Borel Fire and advised residents to leave as soon as fire officials recommend it.

“This is a quickly spreading wildfire, expanding by five or more miles a day!” the weather service said on X.

Nearly 1 million people in the Western United States were covered by fire weather watches and warnings Friday night, with a red flag warning covering the area of the Park Fire through 11 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The warning states that the area will be subjected to gusty winds and low humidity.

The nonprofit news and research organization Climate Central said in an analysis earlier this year that some parts of California, Oregon, and Washington have twice as much fire weather than a century ago, a development that correlates to climate change.