Thousands flee fast-spreading wildfire in northern California

A firefighting helicopter flies as the Lake Fire burns in Los Padres National Forest with evacuation warnings in the area on July 6, 2024 near Los Olivos, California. The wildfire in Santa Barbara County has scorched over 13,000 acres amid a long-duration heat wave which is impacting much of California.  (Getty Images via AFP)

LOS ANGELES – Firefighters were battling a fast-moving wildfire in the US state of California on Thursday, authorities said, with more than 3,500 people forced to flee their homes.

The Park Fire broke out Wednesday evening, on the last day of a heat wave affecting the region.

>More than 1,150 personnel were deployed to fight the blaze, which was only three percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).

As of 12:00 pm local time (1900 GMT) on Thursday, the fire had enveloped 71,489 acres (28,930 ha), according to CalFire.

More than 3,500 people had evacuated the area, Governor Gavin Newsom said.

The town of Chico, under threat from the fire, is located just 12 miles (20 kilometers) west of Paradise, a town that was destroyed by a massive wildfire in 2018, resulting in the deaths of 85 people.

The cause of the Park Fire remains under investigation, according to CalFire.

A 42-year-old man suspected of sparking it was arrested “after an unknown male was seen pushing a car that was on fire into a gully” near the origin of the fire, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in a statement.

The car completely burned, spreading the flames that caused the fire in the park, the statement added.

On Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a “red flag” weather warning for “critical fire weather conditions” in the area, including wind gusts and low humidity.

The western United States has experienced several heat waves since the beginning of June, and dozens of fires are currently burning in the region.

Oregon, California’s northern neighbor, is battling a megafire that is the largest in the country, having ravaged more than 268,000 acres of forest and prompting evacuations in a rural region.

The raging flames have created vast columns of smoke, affecting air quality as far away as neighboring Idaho.

Wildfires were also burning in western Canada, where part of the tourist town of Jasper has been destroyed.

Western North America has increasingly been affected by extreme weather events, exacerbated by climate change.

In mid-July, Newsom warned of a fire season that was “shaping up to be very active.”

Extreme weather events have become increasingly common thanks to global warming, experts say, largely due to mankind’s fossil fuel use.