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Park Fire rips across 125,000 [353,000] acres in northern California

Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories Arson, WildfireTags ,

RyanWeather.com
Park Fire Morning Update 8 AM 7/28/24
From the Northern California Coordination Center:

CA-BTU Park: 353,194 acres grass, brush and timber, 12 percent contained. Extreme fire behavior reported with long-range spotting. Multiple communities are threatened. Structures are threatened with evacuation orders and warnings in place. Critical infrastructure, communication sites, power transmission lines, and private timberlands threatened. Threatened and endangered species, cultural and natural resources are also threatened.

Park Fire tanker drop 07/26
Park Fire tanker drop 07/26

Lassen National Volcanic Park is closed and the town of Paradise is under evacuation warnings.

Highways 32, 36 and Cohasset Road are closed in the fire area with additional threats to Highway 99. Numerous other road, area, and trail closures in effect. The incident is under unified command with CAL FIRE Team 3 (See), CAL FIRE Team 4 (Martin), and the Lassen National Forest.

Park Fire 07/28/24
Park Fire 07/28/24

Though the cause was earlier reported as under investigation, the Chico ER reported that investigators had arrested a Chico man suspected of igniting the fire.

07/26 FRI a.m. Park Fire burns to 164,286 acres, over 4,000 evacuated

The burned-out car that CAL FIRE investigators traced to the start of the Park Fire in Chico. The suspect is in Butte County Jail. ~ Butte County District Attorney's Office photo.
The burned-out car that CAL FIRE investigators traced to the start of the Park Fire in Chico. The suspect is in the Butte County Jail.
~ Butte County District Attorney’s Office photo.

The 42-year-old suspect is facing arson charges. Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said Thursday that investigators apprehended Ronnie Dean Stout, a twice-convicted felon and registered sex offender.

Investigators followed up on local reports of a man pushing “a car on fire” into a gully and down a 60-foot drop near Alligator Hole in upper Bidwell Park midafternoon on Wednesday. Ramsey said the guy was seen calmly leaving the area as the fire took off.

The fire spread from the car, which Ramsey said was Stout’s mother’s car, and grew 45,000 acres overnight; it was estimated Thursday afternoon at 75,000 acres.

It’s at 125,000 acres tonight burning in both Butte and Tehama counties; numerous firefighting airtankers from throughout the state are flying as conditions allow, along with over 1,100 personnel assigned, 6 helicopters, 41 dozers and 10 watertenders, 40 crews, and 153 engines.

A fire whirl was spotted at the Park Fire in the early evening hours of July 25, 2024.~ AlertCalifornia camera
A fire whirl was spotted at the Park Fire in the early evening hours of July 25, 2024.
~ AlertCalifornia Platte Mountain camera in Butte County    Click photo to watch video
A fire tornado or fire vortex developed from the intensity of the fire on July 25. The time-lapse was captured by the ALERTCalifornia Platte Mtn 1 camera. The camera sensors can see 60-70 miles on a clear day and more than 120 miles on a clear night. Watch ALERTCalifornia’s more than 1,080 (as of July 2024) monitoring cameras live at  cameras.alertcalifornia.org 
The Park Fire was started at 3:00 p.m. yesterday and by 8:00 p.m. the IC had  requested 30 strike teams of any type engines. (Holy immediate need Batman, 150 engines!)
View from Hamilton City about 7 p.m. July 25
PARK FIRE: View from Hamilton City about 7 p.m. July 25
CAL FIRE said the fire displayed dynamic fire activity overnight. Winds are definitely a factor and the temperatures are in the 80s. Three helicopters were available for night ops, and they spent the night finding hotspots to drop water on. CAL FIRE has a dandy photo collection on flickr, including timelapse images of the smoke at the fire’s origin.
Richardson Springs camera yesterday at 8 p.m.
Richardson Springs camera yesterday at 8 p.m.
~ Gracias and a big tip o’the hardhat to Pat for this …

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7 thoughts on “Park Fire rips across 125,000 [353,000] acres in northern California”

  1. Best collection of photos & videos I’ve ever seen from any fire. Because I grew up in this area and continued to visit throughout my life, all of this burn is in terrain near & dear to my heart. The good news: I’ve seen many fires burn through here and it always recovers nicely.

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    1. Bidwell always gave me the shivers when I drove through there, picturing something just like this. But yes,it will recover. The homes, and the lives affected, not so much.

      And yes, high-fives on the photos — Cal Fire has really got it together in that department.

      CAL FIRE PHOTOS: PARK FIRE and gigantic kudos to UC San Diego and AlertCalifornia cameras!

      And Tom, CHECK THIS OUT!
      https://www.facebook.com/CALFIRELNU/videos/1161713608366068/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

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  2. Does anyone know the URL for the guy in Chico that does Wildfire Commentary, on Youtube, for fires in Oregon & California ?

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    1. There is a guy on Twitter out of Chico, CA: @MichaelWX18. I am not sure if he has a Youtube channel.

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      1. What do you think is the fuel loading in the area where it burned so fast, 200K acres in 3 days ?

        pounds of dry fuel per acre.

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  3. Paradise has not been evacuated; the town is only on evacuation warning – not orders. People may have voluntarily left, but not mandatory at this point.

    Thank you for the article! (That is a great shot of the tanker drop!)

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