Park Fire

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Park Fire
Refer to caption
Smoke plume of the Park Fire as seen from Chico on July 26, 2024
Location Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama counties, California
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Statistics
Date(s)
  • July 24, 2024 (2024-07-24) –
  • present
  • (Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.)
Burned area 353,194 acres (142,933 ha; 552 sq mi; 1,429 km2)
Cause Arson
Buildings
destroyed		 >134
Injuries 2
Fatalities 0

The Park Fire is a massive and active wildfire burning in Butte, Shasta, Tehama, and Plumas counties in Northern California. As of July 28, 2024, the fire has burned 353,194 acres (142,933 hectares), and it is 12% contained.[1] The Park Fire is the largest wildfire in California's 2024 wildfire season and the seventh-largest in California history. It is also California’s largest wildfire since the Dixie Fire in 2021.

Background

The burn area saw temperatures of 100–110 °F (38–43 °C) during the week prior to the fire. Much of the landscape with the highest fire activity had not burned for more than 20 years.[2]

The Park Fire began near Upper Park Road in upper Bidwell Park, east of the city of Chico in Butte County.[3] Bidwell Park is a large municipal park and recreational area, stretching from Chico itself into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.[4][5] The Butte County District Attorney's office announced the arrest of Ronnie Dean Stout, II, a 42-year-old resident of Chico on July 25, the second day of the fire, under suspicion of having ignited the Park Fire by pushing a flaming car off an embankment in Bidwell Park. The suspect has two prior felony convictions.[6] The district attorney's office alleged that the suspect blended in with other members of the public who were hastening away from the growing fire.[7]

The area in which the Park Fire is burning has a history of significant wildfire activity, and last burned in the 1990 Campbell Fire and 1994 Barkley Fire.[8] It is just north of the deadly and destructive Camp Fire of 2018.

Progression

File:Park Fire, 24 July 2024, Airtanker drop 1.jpg
An airtanker engages the advancing front of the Park Fire within Upper Bidwell Park during the early hours of the fire near its point of origin on Wednesday, July 24, 2024.

The Park Fire ignited at 2:52 p.m. PDT on Bidwell Park's eastern edge.[9][10] It was first spotted near Upper Park Road.[9] From its ignition point the fire spread north, burning some of the park's eastern portion, driven by winds out of the south of up to 24 miles per hour (39 km/h).[9][11] The area burned was reported by Cal Fire to be 1,000 acres (400 ha) by 5:54 p.m.[11] Evacuations in areas northeast of Chico began by 9:00 p.m.[12] The burned area increased to 6,465 acres (2,616 ha) by 10:15 p.m.[11] The fire was initially 3% contained but containment decreased to 0% as it rapidly spiraled out of control.

As it spread north, the fire established itself in the Ishi Wilderness, an area with little history of wildfire, heavy vegetation cover, and few easy access routes for ground-based firefighting personnel.[9] The fire produced pyrocumulus clouds and burned actively into the night.[10] Despite the efforts of ground crews and three night-flying helicopters, the wind-driven fire continued to burn largely north—parallel to California State Route 99—until by morning it had burned into Tehama County and consumed more than 45,000 acres (18,000 ha).[12][13] During the fire's first 12 hours, it burned at a rate of 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) per hour.[2]

As of July 27, 2024, the fire had burned 353,194 acres (142,933 ha) and was 12% contained, making the Park Fire the largest wildfire in California in 2024 and the seventh-largest in California history.[5][14]

Effects

File:Park Fire, 24 July 2024, Fire 1.jpg
The Park Fire makes an aggressive push up the cliffside north of Upper Bidwell Park an hour after ignition on Wednesday, July 24, 2024.

There have been no reported deaths in association with the Park Fire.[15] As of the evening of July 27, over 134 structures have been destroyed and two people have suffered minor injuries.[16]

The fire has prompted evacuation orders for parts of Butte, Shasta and Tehama counties,[17] including residential areas near Chico and the city's airport.[10] By the morning of Thursday, July 25, more than 4,000 people were subject to evacuation orders, including the entire community of Cohasset.[2][12] By July 27, both Cohasset and Paynes Creek were well within the official burn area and were most likely destroyed.[18]

This fire also created a fire whirl.[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Man pushing flaming car into ravine started Park Fire, burning over 120,000 acres in California, officials say, NBC News, Antonio Planas, July 25, 2024. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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