Crews make progress as massive Park fire swells beyond 350,000 acres

Firefighters on Sunday made some progress against the massive Park fire burning in Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama counties – California’s largest wildfire of the year and the state’s seventh-largest fire on record.

The 357,341-acre blaze was 12% contained owing largely to a brief break in hot, dry weather conditions, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. But crews face an uphill battle with higher temperatures and lower humidity on the horizon as the fire continues to burn in heavy vegetation.

“We’re kind of at the mercy of the weather, the fuel and the topography – those are the three driving factors of any fire,” said Jay Tracy, a spokesperson for the incident.

The explosive wildfire ignited Wednesday afternoon after a man pushed a burning car into a gully near Chico in what authorities say was an act of arson. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes, and at least 66 structures have been destroyed and 4,200 remain threatened.

Nearly 4,000 firefighters are attacking the blaze from the air and ground, Tracy said. But the fire is burning in steep, jagged terrain that is proving difficult to access – including areas such as the Ishi Wilderness that haven’t burned in decades and so are overgrown and rife for fire, Tracy said.

“There’s not any infrastructure in there that would have the roads and the access points that we need,” he added.

The fire is largely crawling in a northward direction, where communities such as Paynes Creek remain a top concern. Fortunately, many of the homes and neighborhoods in the area are spread out and not densely populated, which has so far allowed crews to keep property damage and other tolls to a relative minimum, Tracy said.

Another community of concern – Cohasset on the fire’s southern perimeter – has also so far been spared due to a combination of “luck and hard work,” according to Zeke Lunder, a Chico-based fire specialist and geographer.

Satellite imagery of the blaze captured by the European Space Agency show many active spots of heat and flames, but also some beneficial forest management and fuel reduction projects that have helped keep some areas protected, Lunder said in a briefing Saturday evening.

However, forecasters say luck could soon change.

While a low-pressure system delivered significantly cooler and moister conditions to the region over the weekend, the days ahead are likely to bring a gradual increase in temperatures and decrease in humidity, according to Sara Purdue, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

“We’re looking at potential for triple digits by next weekend,” Purdue said. “There is some uncertainty in the forecast still, but it’s going to be a slow transition back to those warmer-than-normal temperatures.”

The fire has prompted a state of emergency declaration from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said Saturday that he had secured additional federal assistance to help battle the blaze.

“This is already one of the biggest fires in California history, and we’re continuing to see dangerous conditions – our firefighters and emergency responders are working day and night to protect our communities,” Newsom said in a statement. “Californians must heed warning from local authorities and take steps to stay safe.”

Indeed, the Park fire is far from the only blaze burning in California, where crews are contending with more than two dozen active wildfires.

In Kern County, the Borel fire has seared through more than 38,000 acres and was 0% contained on Sunday, according to Capt. Andrew Freeborn with the Kern County Fire Department.

The fire began Wednesday in the Kern River canyon and spread rapidly as it moved through the canyon and met with strong winds along the ridges, he said.

“We’ve been under red-flag warning conditions, and the fire continues to burn in a very, very intense and erratic way,” Freeborn said. “The flames can be seen from miles away. If you’re looking for what extreme fire behavior would be defined as, we’re seeing it on this fire.”

Evacuation orders and warnings have been issued throughout the area. Freeborn said structure damage is still being assessed; however, reports indicate there may have been significant structure loss in the town of Havilah.

The Borel fire is being managed with two other fires in Kern and Tulare counties, collectively referred to as the SQF Lightning incident. The other fires are the Trout fire, which has burned 22,660 acres and is 25% contained, and the Long fire, which has burned 9,204 acres and is 35% contained.

Tracy, the Park fire incident spokesperson, said some of the extreme behavior displayed in that fire’s early hours appears to have slowed, such as tornadolike “fire whirls” sometimes referred to as “firenados.”

But it is continuing to spew considerable smoke, with federal smoke maps showing plumes from the fire reaching as far as Oregon and Nevada.

The Park fire has prompted several road closures and the closure of Lassen Volcanic National Park. Evacuation shelters are available at Neighborhood Church in Chico and Los Molinos Vet’s Hall in Los Molinos. Large and small animal shelters are also available in Oroville, Red Bluff and Corning.

The race between the weather and the firefight will continue on Sunday and in the days ahead, Tracy said.

“If the weather continues to cooperate, then we’ll be able to continue this direct attack and start to button up more containment,” he said.