California's Park Fire tops 350,000 acres, destroying 134 structures
The largest wildfire currently burning in California grew to more than 350,000 acres Saturday, but there was hope that progress in containing it, as well as a cooldown, will help defeat it.
The largest wildfire currently burning in California grew to more than 350,000 acres Saturday, but there was hope that progress in containing it, as well as a cooldown, will help defeat it.
The Park Fire was started on Wednesday by a man who pushed a flaming vehicle into a gulley filled with dried brush at a park in Chico, authorities allege. The blaze erupted and quickly doubled in acreage and then doubled again amid hot temperatures, dry brush and gusty wind.
Similar conditions have plagued the West this month, with forested areas in Oregon and Washington, as well as in parts of Canada, going up in smoke.
Cal Fire officials said the Park Fire had so far destroyed 134 structures as it marched northward from Chico and spread from Butte to Tehama County. After three days of no containment, firefighters had the blaze 10% contained Saturday.
An old fire truck smolders after getting burned during the Park Fire in the Paynes Creek area of unincorporated Tehama County, California, on Saturday.Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty ImagesButte County Sheriff Kory Honea said mandatory and recommended evacuations were in effect depending on location.
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