California’s largest fire of year rages in state’s north
![Flames quickly grow as firefighters set a backfire on the eastern front of the Park Fire, which has grown to 360,141 acres and is 12 percent contained, on July 28, 2024 near Chico, California. Strong winds and dried vegetation fueled the fire that exploded 70,000 acres in the first 24 hours after a man allegedly pushed a burning car into a ravine to intentionally set the blaze. In 2018, more than 18,000 structures were destroyed and 85 people killed in the nearby town of Paradise when the Camp Fire entrapped thousand of people and became the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history](https://globalnation.inquirer.net/files/2024/07/063_2163680177-1200x800.jpg)
Flames quickly grow as firefighters set a backfire on the eastern front of the Park Fire, which has grown to 360,141 acres and is 12 percent contained, on July 28, 2024 near Chico, California. Strong winds and dried vegetation fueled the fire that exploded 70,000 acres in the first 24 hours after a man allegedly pushed a burning car into a ravine to intentionally set the blaze. (Getty Images via AFP)
‘Super, super dry’
The fire was able to spread quickly following multiple heat waves that have struck California and the US West since the beginning of June. Vegetation “is still super, super dry,” said Daniel Swain, an extreme weather specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles, adding that it was caused by “a month of record-breaking heat and evaporative demand.” While the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains burn regularly, there hasn’t been a fire for decades in the forests where the Park Fire is located, meaning there is plenty of fuel for the flames. Despite the massive resources deployed by California, which has special expertise in firefighting, “it’s still beyond technology to address a fire at that scope,” Swain said. The enormous Park Fire brings back bad memories: the town of Paradise, where 85 people died in 2018 in the deadliest fire in state history, is only about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the flames. Its residents have already been put on alert. In the meantime, some inhabitants of evacuated towns have chosen to stay until the last minute, such as Justin Freese, who is waiting with a firehose and 10,000 gallons of water at the ready. “I’m prepared, but I’m not stupid,” he told the New York Times. “If there’s a 100-foot wall of flames coming, I’m not going to stay put and melt my skin.”Multiple fires
The Park Fire was caused by arson, according to authorities. A 42-year-old man was takin into custody Thursday morning after being spotted pushing a burning car into a ravine, according to the local prosecutor’s office. The United States is presently battling about 100 large fires according to the National Interagency Fire Center, mainly in the west of the country and in particular Oregon, where an airplane pilot fighting the fires died last week. The smoke generated by the fires has prompted the weather service to issue air quality alerts in many places. In California, a fire that broke out last week nearly razed the historic gold-mining town of Havilah in the state’s center over the weekend, but caused no casualties. Repeat heat waves and extreme weather events are accelerated by climate change, which is linked to humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels, according to scientists.
READ NEXT
EDITORS' PICK