The Park Fire — now the sixth-largest fire in the state’s recorded history — continued to burn Monday with low levels of activity, but fire officials expected it to flare back up as temperatures increase through the week.
The blaze, the largest of the year so far, has forced evacuations across four Northern California counties — Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama — since it broke out on Wednesday.
Flames had devoured 370,237 acres as of Monday afternoon, according to Cal Fire. The fire destroyed 109 structures and damaged another five, though it was not clear Monday if they were homes or other structures.
No fatalities or injuries have been reported in the Park Fire.
Officials reported that the fire was 12 percent contained as of early Monday afternoon. It had experienced big leaps in acreage almost every day since its ignition last week.
“There’s still a lot of unburned fuel, there’s a lot still smoking, so there’s a chance that it will flare back up,” said Sergio Arellano, public information officer for Cal Fire.
Arellano said that it is difficult to predict how the fire will behave on Tuesday, but added that the rising temperatures are a cause for concern.
“It’s a big fight because of the potential it has and how quickly it spread in such a short period of time,” Arellano said. “It’s something we had not really seen – a fire spreading that fast in such a short period of time.”
The temperatures in the area of the fire will see a “pretty substantial warmup” through this week, said Dakari Anderson, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, with temperatures in the upper 80s to 90s on Wednesday rising to the mid to upper 90s by Friday. Temperatures could reach the 100s on the western flank of the fire on Friday.
Conditions are expected to get marginally dryer while wind conditions remain steady, Anderson added.
On Sunday night, the flames had continued to burn actively before a thick blanket of smoke and the early morning humidity moderated the fire’s activity, according to Cal Fire’s situation summary. The areas on the upper slopes and ridges were particularly active Sunday night.
“The fire pretty much moderated overnight, a couple pockets here and there,” said Aaron Johnson, public information officer for CalFire. “Crews were able to engage on those.”
Fire officials had anticipated increased activity through Monday due to southwesterly winds, fire receptive fuels and low fuel moisture. Firefighters continued active control lines, reopened lines from previous fires and established new lines to continue fighting the fire through Monday.
Fire crews had been stationed in areas that were particularly active over the previous 36 hours to prepare for the anticipated increase throughout Monday, Johnson said. They began airdrops early Monday morning, Arellano said. Updated data on the fire’s spread on Monday was not available by press time.
“We’re throwing a ton of resources on it,” Arellano said. “CalFire has been doing a great job of fighting it not only in the air but on the ground.”
On Monday, firefighters were attacking the blaze with a massive show of force, with nearly 5,000 fire personnel and 98 crews working with 33 helicopters, 434 fire engines and 166 dozers to douse the flames.
Johnson added that fire crews were working “diligently” to put out the flames.
“We’re working to get folks back into their homes as quickly as possible once it is safe for them to do so,” Johnson said. “So bear with us. We’re getting there.”
A complete list of areas under evacuation orders and evacuation centers can be found on CalFire’s incident page.
The bulk of the fire has burned through Tehama County, charring 315,397 acres. An additional 52,859 acres have been burned in Butte County.
The Park Fire is one of several recent blazes started by human activity — whether accidental or allegedly criminal. A 42-year-old Chico man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of starting the Park Fire by pushing a car on fire into a gully. Ronnie Dean Stout was charged Monday with arson.
A North Bay man was arrested for allegedly starting a fire that grew to 36 acres by driving more than four miles on a tireless-wheel, trailing sparks in his wake. Two people in Sonoma and Lake counties were arrested on suspicion of starting fires with powered yard equipment. Another person was accused of sparking the 900-acre French fire near Yosemite by using a lawnmower on dry grass.
In Southern California, fireworks sparked a 527-acre brush fire that destroyed six houses.
The Creek Fire in Alameda County’s Sunol area had reached 35% containment as of Monday morning, according to Cal Fire. The fire had burned 744 acres. Favorable overnight conditions allowed firefighters to make good progress on the blaze, according to Cal Fire’s situation summary.
Crews stopped forward progress of the flames, but the threat to structures and infrastructure remained. Evacuations for Zone ALC-127 and road closures remained in place.
The Point Fire in Contra Costa County was 92% contained as of 1:01 p.m. Monday. The blaze had grown to 471 acres. Firefighters were continuing to mop up the flames, according to the situation summary.
The Flynn Fire in Alameda County was 100% contained as of Sunday night, with the cause remaining under investigation. It charred 389 acres while burning for three days north of Interstate 580 east of Livermore, according to Cal Fire.
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