Cal Fire prepares for hotter, drier weather around Park Fire. ‘It’s going to challenge us’

Firefighters overnight gained more containment on the Park Fire north of Chico but faced a challenge on the northeast portion of the wildfire as a dry air mass moves in, and smoke from the blaze is expected to increase early this week.

In a Monday morning operational briefing, Cal Fire Incident Commander Billy See said crews battling the blaze were in a transitional phase as the incident team prepares to confront this latest challenge.

“We got a large dry air mass coming through with increased temperatures,” See told firefighters. “It’s going to challenge us in that northeast corner. We understand that... I need everyone to stay focused today.

He asked fire crews to be flexible and aggressive as they work to close the gaps, moving around firefighting resources strategically as unfavorable conditions increase the chances of fire activity.

The Park Fire, as of Monday morning, has burned a total of 402,042 acres (628 square miles), and 34% of the wildfire has been contained, according to Cal Fire. The fire has burned more than 348,000 acres in Tehama County and nearly 53,000 acres in Butte County. The wildfire has also affected areas in Plumas and Shasta counties.

The wildfire’s spread overnight was limited to the eastern portion, continuing to burn the larger dead and downed vegetation, according to a Monday morning Cal Fire situation summary. Hotter weather, drier conditions and increased wind speed contributed to the increased fire activity.

Smoke conditions were more favorable Sunday, allowing aircraft to attack the blaze. Cal Fire, however, expected to see increased smoke Monday, especially over the northeast portion of the fire where flames remained active.

The high temperature on Monday was expected to reach the low 100s with the minimum relative humidity dipping to the lower to mid-teens, according to Cal Fire. Wind could gust to about 20 mph in the afternoon.

Cal Fire said damage inspection teams had completed their work, conducting a total of 1,851 inspections. The Park Fire, now the fourth-largest in California history, has destroyed 640 structures and damaged 52 others in Butte and Tehama counties, Cal Fire said Monday. The total includes infrastructure.

In Butte County, the fire destroyed 428 structures and damaged 47 others. Cal Fire said the fire destroyed 212 structures in Tehama County, damaging five others.

The Park Fire has been burning for 13 days since started in Butte County just east of Chico in suspected act of arson.

Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico is accused of pushing a a burning car into a gully in Upper Bidwell on July 24, igniting what would become the Park Fire before emerging from heavy vegetation along the hiking path and joining evacuees fleeing the area, prosecutors have said.

Over 6,600 firefighting personnel were battling the blaze on Monday. No fatalities or injuries have been reported.

The total acreage burned includes over 95,000 acres in Lassen National Forest. Cal Fire officials said firefighters in Lassen National Forest continued to make preparations along the rim of Mill Creek and work to moderate fire activity in the bottom using helicopter water drops. Firefighters on the southern rim were using heavy equipment to improve forest roads to prevent the fire from spreading south and east.

“A lot of challenges over this fire. We’re down to some of the final challenges, that last bit and piece of this incident,” Cal Fire Operations Section Chief Mark Brunton told crews in Monday’s briefing. “Today is a day of execution. We have a plan in place... to finalize this incident and be done with this.”