Fires prompt US, Canada to issue air quality warnings | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

FOREST RANCH, Calif. — Wildfires across the western United States and Canada prompted air quality warnings for millions of people Sunday as thousands of firefighters battled the blazes, including California’s largest wildfire this year.

The Park Fire had burned more than 550 square miles inland in Northern California by Sunday morning. The skies were dark and smoke and haze were billowing. Air quality was also poor across much of the northwestern U.S. and western Canada.

Although the sprawling blaze was only 12% contained, cooler temperatures and higher humidity could help firefighters battle the blaze. The blaze has been compared to the 2018 Camp Fire, which tore through the nearby community of Paradise, killing 85 people and destroying 11,000 homes.

Paradise and several other communities in Butte County were under evacuation warnings Sunday. However, Cal Fire Operations Section Chief Jeremy Pierce had some good news for the area. He said around noon that the southernmost front of the fire, closest to Paradise, was “looking really good,” and that crews would focus on clearing the area over the next three days.

Emergency responders initially focused on saving lives and property at risk from the blaze, but that has shifted to confronting the fire directly, Jay Tracy, a spokesman for Park Fire headquarters, told The Associated Press by telephone Sunday. Nearly 4,000 firefighters are battling the blaze, aided by numerous helicopters and water-jets, and Tracy said the reinforcements would provide much-needed respite for local firefighters, some of whom have been working nonstop since the fire began Wednesday.

While below-average temperatures are expected through the middle of this week, that doesn’t mean “existing fires are going to go away,” said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s weather forecast center in College Park, Maryland.

According to Tracy, at least 66 buildings were destroyed and five damaged by the fire.

Information for this article was provided by David Sharp, Becky Bohrer, John Antczak, Rio Yamat, David Sharp, Holly Ramer, Sarah Brumfield, Claire Rush, Terry Chea, Scott Sonner, Martha Bellisle and Amy Hanson of The Associated Press.

Firefighters with the United States Forest Service Lassen National Forest prepare a fire hose on a hillside during the fire in the park near Paynes Creek in Tehama County, California, Saturday, July 27, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Grant Douglas pauses to drink water during the evacuation as the Park Fire jumps Highway 36 near Paynes Creek in Tehama County, California, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A firefighter monitors the Park Fire near Forest Ranch, Calif., Saturday, July 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

Flames destroy a vehicle as the Park Fire rages in Tehama County, California, on Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Flames destroy buildings during the Park Fire in Tehama County, California, on Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Firefighter Ismael Pugh drinks water during a briefing while battling the Park Fire in Tehama County, California, Saturday, July 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Joseph Phillips stands where the front door of his home once stood before the Gwen Fire tore through the area and destroyed the house, Saturday, July 27, 2024, on Gifford Reubens Road, Idaho. (August Frank/Lewiston Tribune via AP)

A charred vehicle sits at the bottom of a hill in Paynes Creek after the Park Fire devastated the community in Tehama County, California, on Saturday, July 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Grant Douglas pauses during the evacuation as the Park Fire jumps Highway 36 near Paynes Creek in Tehama County, California, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)