Park Fire Now the 4th Largest in California History

Wild developments have surfaced from the state of California after local authorities arrested a man believed to be tied to the Park Fire. He pushed a burning car into a ditch, that started the blaze on Wednesday, July 24. The day it started, it grew over 124,000 acres with little containment. Now, the fire is burning more than 399k acres. The fire is burning across Butte and Tehama County, north of Chico. According to CalFire, the fire continues to burn very actively in steep terrain, which has made it difficult to access for firefighters.

Related article: Wildfire Smoke Impacting Air Quality Across the West, Central U.S.

The map below shows the Park Fire's recent activity which started after a burning car was pushed into a gully. On Wednesday, it was sparked and began moving to the north of Chico (red). Then Thursday (dark orange) it burned to the north. Friday (orange) the fire burned to the east and northwest. Saturday (light orange), the fire burned toward CA Highway 44. Then on Sunday and Monday (mustard to light yellow), more flames engulfed Highway 44 and reached farther east into the Plumas National Forest. Tuesday (lightest yellow) headed towards Mineral and Prattville.

Within the first five days, the Park Fire grew to become one of California's largest wildfires on record. On Friday, August 2nd it surpassed 399,000 acres, making it the 4th largest wildfire in California state history. The largest wildfire (or group of fires) was the August Lightning Complex fires in northern California in 2020, when more than a million acres of land was scorched.

We're entering the hottest time of the year in this part of the country, which could continue drying vegetation and making it conducive for fire starts. Prevent future fires by obeying burn bans, avoiding anything that sparks, and properly disposing of anything lit on fire. We will continue to update you on this developing story.