Park Fire Doubles in Size, Becomes Sixth-Largest in California History

Thousands of firefighters in California are battling the Park Fire in northern California after it doubled in size within 24 hours, reported Reuters.

The massive wildfire is the sixth-largest in the state’s history, having burned 370,000 acres since it started on Wednesday, The New York Times reported. It had also destroyed more than 100 structures and threatened thousands more.

“It looked like a volcano,” said Paul Mozzino, who had evacuated his Humboldt Highlands home, “like something out of ‘Hellraiser,’” as reported by The New York Times.

The fire was 12 percent contained, but evacuation orders or warnings remained for Butte, Plumas, Tehama and Shasta counties, CNN reported.

Lower southerly winds could potentially relieve pressure from the eastern edge of the fire.

Included in the evacuations was the town of Paradise, devastated by the Camp Fire in 2018, which killed 84 people and was the deadliest in California history.

Christopher Apel and Bruce Hey, local residents of the Cohasset area, said they had people living on properties adjacent to them who were survivors of the Camp Fire, reported CBS News.

“Everything is burning,” Apel said, as CBS News reported.

“I tried to outrun it,” Hey, who burned his arm while following evacuation orders for the Camp Fire, said. “I wouldn’t have gotten burned if I hadn’t rolled down the window to look in the rearview mirror. I was right in the middle of it and I was trying to put it in reverse.”

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, the Park Fire is one of dozens of wildfires that have burned in excess of two million acres across the country, reported Reuters.

Several fires, including the Durkee Fire, were burning in Oregon. Authorities said the wildfire had destroyed more than 288,000 acres.

The Durkee Fire had injured three people and razed four residences. As of Monday morning, it was 49 percent contained, with wind and humidity levels improving, InciWeb said.

A firefighter was killed after a tanker crashed in southeastern Oregon near the Falls Fire, a statement from the United States Forest Service said, as Reuters reported.

Experts have said the Park Fire could keep spreading, reported The New York Times. Daniel Swain, a University of California, Los Angeles, climate scientist, said the enormous fire could burn for weeks or even months.

“Every year we do what we can to protect our community, but sometimes efforts aren’t enough,” said Anthony Flamini, a resident of Cohasset, as The New York Times reported.

Following an evacuation warning in a nearby town, Flamini said the community consensus was, “We are in trouble.”