California’s largest active wildfire on Friday exploded in size evening, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to meet the danger, as the blaze forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate.
Fueled by a crushing heat wave, the Park Fire — the most intense wildfire to hit the state this summer — has rapidly devoured nearly 97,000 hectares as of Friday night and is continuing to gain strength.
“This fire has been rapidly expanding 4,000 to 5,000 acres [1,619 to 2,023 hectares] an hour,” incident commander Billy See said at a news conference on Friday evening.
Photo: AP
For now it is “zero percent” controlled, despite the efforts of about 1,700 firefighters, with hundreds of additional resources ordered en route, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.
A total of 4,000 people have evacuated the towns of Cohasset and Forest Ranch, plus an additional 400 from the small city of Chico.
The blaze so far has destroyed 134 structures, authorities said.
Despite the structure losses, Butte County Fire Chief Garrett Sjolund said “many more have been saved.”
“It is a fire that is challenging our strategies, but we are finding opportunities to deploy our resources in successful ways,” Sjolund told reporters.
The fire was moving quickly north and east after igniting on Wednesday when authorities said a man pushed a burning car into a gully in Butte County’s Chico and then calmly blended in with others fleeing the scene.
On Thursday, police detained the 42-year-old man, who Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey identified as Ronnie Dean Stout II.
Ramsey said he would be held without bail until a court appearance next week.
Within hours, it had devastated a wide area there and in neighboring Tehama County. In just two days, the Park Fire has already become the 20th-largest fire in California history by land area.
“There’s a tremendous amount of fuel out there and it’s going to continue with this rapid pace,” Cal Fire incident commander Billy See said at a briefing.
The fire was on Friday afternoon advancing up to 21km2 an hour, he said.
The blaze has generated an enormous column of dense gray smoke, with gritty clouds akin to those of a violent storm now visible in nearby US states.
The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for the region through Friday night, predicting “critical” fire weather conditions.
“You have to be prepared to go,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea warned area residents.
“This county has seen time and time again where people have waited too long and they have lost their lives,” he added.
Some area residents, such as Julia Yarbough, have already seen their homes reduced to ashes.
“This is what’s left of my house,” she told US broadcaster CBS, showing the blackened and still smoking debris. “I must be in shock.”
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
RSS