California’s hot, dry weather continues to fuel fires, with the Park Fire in Butte and Tehama counties and other smaller blazes growing again across the state.
The Park Fire, now the fourth-largest wildfire in state history, erupted Monday in a massive blaze that sent thick smoke into the air near the intersection of Highways 32 and 36, not far from the small town of Mineral. An evacuation order has been issued for that town; additional orders have also been issued for several communities in Tehama County near the Plumas County line.
“Fires are expected to continue to challenge crews until more favorable conditions emerge later this week,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection wrote in its latest update on Tuesday.
Jim Evans, a park fire spokesman, said the fire spread into remote areas where the undergrowth was unusually dry and untouched, making it difficult to extinguish, especially in the heat.
Evans said Tuesday morning “presented some of the same conditions as yesterday.” “This will add fuel to the fire.”
Humidities are likely to be even lower on Tuesday, officials said.
“We are doing everything we can to reduce the area and increase containment,” Evans said. “The humidity has [low] Even at night.
As of Tuesday morning, the Park Fire was about 34% contained and had grown to 414,0042 acres, an increase of more than 10,000 acres since Monday morning. More than 600 structures, many of them homes, were destroyed and nearly 3,000 structures remain at risk, according to Cal Fire.
“Extremely low fuel moisture, steep canyons, long travel times, and daily localized fires will make it difficult to contain the spread of fires,” Cal Fire wrote in its update. “Temperatures will continue to be hot and dry throughout the day.”
In San Bernardino, a brush fire ripped through a hillside community Monday afternoon and the area remained under a heat warning.
San Bernardino Fire Department spokesman Eric Sherwin said the Edgehill Fire was limited to 54 acres but still forced many residents to evacuate and destroyed several homes. He said assessment teams were still working to determine the extent of the damage.
“The real miracle is that this fire hit the community so hard and we didn’t have any civilian injuries,” Sherwin said. “It’s incredible.”
One firefighter was injured but has been released from the hospital, he said.
As of Tuesday morning, the fire was 75% contained, according to the fire department. Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire, which appears to be human-caused, Sherwin said.
