Thousands of firefighters battle to contain California wildfire | Climate Crisis News

A fire that has burned out of control in Northern California has quickly become one of the largest blazes ever in the western U.S. state, authorities said Saturday.

The Park Fire burned more than 350,000 acres (142,000 hectares) as of Saturday evening, making it the seventh-largest fire in state history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

The fire, which forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their homes, raged in a mostly rural, mountainous area near the city of Chico, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of the state capital, Sacramento.

The fire was only 10 percent contained, according to an update from the agency, despite the efforts of more than 3,700 personnel including more than a dozen helicopters and several planes.

Cal Fire Operations Chief Jeremy Pierce said Saturday that firefighters are taking advantage of the cooler weather while it lasts: “We’ve had a lot of success today.”

The Park Fire started Wednesday near Chico, in Butte County, and within hours had destroyed a large area there and in neighboring Tehama County.

According to the latest update from Cal Fire, 20 structures have been destroyed by the fire, down from an earlier estimate of 134.

The agency said numbers are expected to fluctuate as officials assess the damage on the ground.

The fire generated a huge column of dense gray smoke that has also blown over neighboring states.

On Thursday, police arrested a 42-year-old man on suspicion of causing the fire by pushing a burning car into a ravine.

Evacuation orders and warnings were issued for multiple communities in several counties, including a warning for Paradise, the town devastated by the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest fire in state history, which killed at least 85 people.

According to experts, climate change, accelerated by human actions, is leading to more extreme weather conditions.