SF Gate
Latest map of California's Park Fire shows a monstrous wildfire
By
Amy Graff,Senior News EditorUpdated July 27, 2024 11:52 a.m.
At
348,370 acres, the
Park Fire is the largest wildfire in California so far this year. The blaze has been exploding in size since it ignited Wednesday in Chico’s Bidwell Park and grew an astonishing 70,000 acres Friday night into Saturday morning. It’s already the
seventh largest wildfire in California’s history and UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain
said on X Friday night that it’s likely to become “among (the) top 3 largest in California history.”
The entire
town of Paradise has fallen under an
evacuation warning. Paradise was devoured by the 153,336-acre
Camp Fire in 2018; the devastating blaze destroyed more than 18,000 structures and killed 85 people.
As of Friday morning, approximately 4,300 people are under evacuation orders in Butte County, including 1,150 people in Cohasset, a community in the Sierra Nevada foothills, according to Megan McMann, a spokesperson for the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. About 400 people were also ordered to leave their homes in northeast Chico, she said. The Chico Regional Airport is under an evacuation order. Collins said Thursday that downtown Chico was not threatened.
A
red flag warning was in effect for the area where the fire is burning through late Friday, expiring 11 p.m. Friday. Hot, dry, windy weather contributed to extreme fire growth and fire behavior in recent days. A
rare “pyrotornado” above the fire was observed about the fire on Thursday.
“All the factors came together to make this happen: super dry fuels, it had been really hot the day it started and in the days prior. … It was really dry and there was a lot of wind,” Foxworthy said.
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