California's largest wildfire explodes in size as fires rage across US West
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Published 2024-07-27
The forecast called for cooler temperatures that could help slow the Park Fire, the largest blaze so far this year in California.
The Park Fire’s intensity and dramatic spread led fire officials to make unwelcome comparisons to the monstrous Camp Fire, which burned out of control in nearby Paradise in 2018, killing 85 people and torching 11,000 homes.
And Paradise again was near the danger zone.
The entire town was under an evacuation warning Saturday, one of several communities in Butte County.
Evacuation orders were also issued for Plumas, Tehama and Shasta counties.
An evacuation warning calls for people to prepare to evacuate and await instructions. An evacuation order means to leave immediately.
More than 130 structures have been destroyed by the Park Fire so far as the inferno barreled through steep mountainous terrain — creating tough conditions overnight for crews.
The fire stood at 480 square miles (1,243 square kilometers) on Friday night — just shy of the size of the city of Los Angeles, which covers roughly 503 square miles (1,302 square kilometers).
The blaze was moving quickly north and east after igniting Wednesday, when authorities said a man pushed a burning car into a gully in Chico and then calmly blended in with others fleeing the scene.
Communities elsewhere in the U.S. West and Canada also were under siege Saturday from a fast-moving blaze sparked by lightning that sent people fleeing on fire-ringed roads in rural Idaho to a new blaze that was causing evacuations in eastern Washington.
More than 110 active fires covering 2,800 square miles (7,250 square kilometers) were burning in the U.S. on Friday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
AP video shot by Noah Berger
All Comments (21)
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My brother is a wild land fire fighter ! Please pray for All people who are effected and for those trying to put out the fires!
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Intentional. May God have mercy on the innocent victims.
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Poor animals
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Absolutely terrible for the people in its path.
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Thank you to all firefighters !!!!
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A very sad site. I pray it gets contained soon.
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Way back in California’s past, the rule was dead and down when harvesters of fire wood came in and cleared a lot of the “fuel” of wildfires. This is no longer the case. Further, it will get worse. The plan is to outlaw gas powered chain saws, but will still allow amateurs to have a campfire. This is a beautiful state. It breaks my heart that flatlanders and the over zealous Sierra Club has brought this to pass for decades and the foreseeable future.
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I never understood why these fires aren't treated as an emergency enough for other states helicopter firefighters to go and national guards to stop the spread..
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Forestry management would help a lot with that. They're not allowed to cut back the Chaparral
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That’s Because of an arsonist not a wildfire!
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Praying an Iron Dome of protection upon all the firefighters and first responders.
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Sad to see, and sad to be in that situation.
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All the wood animals & farm animals being burned alive 🐴🐰🦊🦎🐿️🦨🦉🐓🦃🐦🐖🐺🐻🐶🐈⬛🦌🦅😭 & some people too! & to think it was arson ! That's outright evil 😳💔💔💔!!!
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Was that a fire tornado?
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GodSpeed 🙏 🙏
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With all the technology we have, there needs to be a better way to kill these fires quickly, water isn't enough. This is an ongoing problem that needs more attention. Condolences to all the victims.
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And you wonder why State Farm is pulling out of that place.
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Praying. This is horrific.
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"It feels like summer, everyday gets hotter than the one before" - childish gambino
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Arsonist makeup for most these fires
