Cal Fire has confirmed that the Park Fire near Chico, California, spread overnight and has damaged more than a hundred structures.
Ari Shapiro, host:
The Park Fire in Northern California has more than tripled in size since yesterday morning. It now covers more than 178,000 acres. The fire has forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 people in the foothills west of Chico and has so far destroyed 134 buildings. KQED member station climate reporter Ezra David Romero reports.
EZRA DAVID ROMERO, BYLINE: David Eleazer lives below the treeline above Chico. He tried to evacuate on Wednesday but had to go home because the fire cut across the road leading to his home. On Thursday morning, he finally came down.
DAVID ELEAZER: Everything was burning on both sides of the road. I lost my dog.
ROMERO: He wasn’t sure if his dog was still alive. He couldn’t find them to take with him.
ELEAZER: Yeah, they were with me when I first tried to get out of there. And then they sent me home, and they – but I didn’t know what was going on. They are confused.
Romero: Evacuation warnings were extended Thursday night to the town of Paradise, 12 miles away, which was devastated by the 2018 Camp Fire. In 2020, he lost his previous home in another nearby fire. This time, he wasn’t surprised.
ELEAZER: This is the only place in Butte County that’s not really on fire, you know? It’s the only place with big trees, and yes, we talk about it all the time.
ROMERO: Arson investigators have arrested a man they believe pushed a burning car into a ravine in Bidwell Park on Chico’s northwest edge, starting a park fire. Law enforcement is holding him without bail.
(SOUNDBITE OF FIRE TRUCKS DRIVING BY)
ROMERO: At the Park Fire Incident Command Center at the Chico Fairgrounds, some firefighters were returning from the growing blaze and new crews were leaving. Dan Collins is Cal Fire’s public information officer.
Dan Collins: They were completing their mission, picking up some food, supplies, and then going to a hotel to rest for the night.
ROMERO: In the distance, a plume of smoke from the fire is rising into the sky.
Collins: That’s an important indicator of extreme fire behavior on the ground.
ROMERO: The danger signal warning is in effect until 11pm tonight. Collins said the fire has the potential to grow exponentially.
Collins: We anticipate a challenging engagement for our air and ground assets.
ROMERO: He says the grass and shrubs are too dry, the temperatures are too hot and the winds are too strong to control the fire quickly.
For NPR News, I’m Ezra David Romero in Chico.
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