Park Fire grows to more than 400,000 acres, now 4th-largest in California history
“The Park Fire has been extremely active over the last 24 hours,” Cal Fire said. “Hot and dry weather has reduced moisture levels in vegetation across the fire area. Atmospheric instability has caused the fire to remain active, even during the overnight hours.”
The Park Fire is burning in Butte, Plumas, Shasta, and Tehama counties and is 27% contained, according to the update.
It surpasses the SCU Lightning Complex which burned in the greater Bay Area and Northern San Joaquin Valley regions in August 2020, destroying 225 structures.
“Crews are making good progress building containment lines. However, firefighters are still actively engaging in fire suppression to an area spanning 175-miles,” the update read.
“Hot temperatures are expected through the weekend and into Sunday, increasing the chance for active fire behavior and long-range spotting,” it said.
As of Friday, 94 large wildfires raged across multiple states, and 28 had evacuation orders, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Fires are also burning in Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Utah, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nevada.
The firefighting efforts are primarily focused on containing the Park Fire within us, which involves crew members building containment lines and actively suppressing flames. Despite the ongoing efforts, the hot temperatures forecasted for the weekend could potentially increase the fire's activity.
