Fewer spot fires overnight as Cal Fire expects cooler weather to limit spread of the Park Fire
There were fewer spot fires overnight in the northeast portion of the Park Fire in Northern California, where firefighters continued to work on holding containment lines in Tehama County.
The Park Fire, as of 11 a.m. Friday, had burned a total of 428,808 acres (670 square miles), according to Cal Fire. The wildfire’s containment has remained at 34% since Monday morning.
The fire has burned more than 375,000 acres in Tehama County, an increase of about 2,000 acres since Thursday morning. Flames burned nearly 53,000 acres in Butte County, where the suspected arson fire started more than two weeks ago.
The total acreage burned includes over 113,000 acres in Lassen National Forest. The wildfire has also affected areas in Plumas and Shasta counties.
In a Friday morning situation summary, Cal Fire officials said firefighters made good progress overnight on the northeast portion of Park Fire. There were fewer spot fires than in previous nights, Cal Fire said, and firefighters were able to construct direct containment lines in the Mill Creek area.
Spot fires occur when floating embers drift in the air land on the unburned side of a fire containment line.
Cal Fire Unified Incident Commander Kevin Bohall, speaking to fire crews in a Friday morning operational briefing, said they’ve made progress and needed to continue working hard as incremental improvements in the weather were expected over the weekend.
“We don’t want to give up ground we’ve already bought. Any of the ground we’ve got right now, we need to hold on to that,” Bohall said about maintaining containment lines. “We need to move toward success on this incident.”
Cal Fire officials expected to see lower temperatures and higher humidity levels over the weekend, favorable conditions that expected to limit spread of the wildfire in some areas. Winds, however, was expected to increase, which could lead to more wind-driven fire activity, according to Friday morning’s situation summary.
Some Tehama County residents are being allowed to return home, where authorities believe it’s safe to do so. But Cal Fire said some evacuation orders and warnings remained in Tehama, Shasta and Plumas counties.
The wildfire continues to threaten several communities in the area, according to Cal Fire. Flames have pushed into the area between the communities of Mill Creek and Mineral.
In Lassen National Forest, aircraft and ground crews were expected to use direct tactics to hold the fire within the perimeter and mop-up less active fire areas, Cal Fire said. Conducting mop-up involves removing or extinguishing all burning or smoldering material along containment lines.
On Thursday afternoon, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office lifted all evacuations warnings in the county. The last warnings that had been in place included the Butte Meadows community and areas above Forest Ranch bordering Highway 32, sheriff’s deputies said online.
The Park Fire, burning into its 17th day on Friday, started in Butte County just east of Chico in a suspected act of arson.
Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico is accused of pushing 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.
The Park Fire remained the fourth-largest wildfire in California recorded history. The August Complex Fire that burned 1.032 million acres in seven Northern California counties is the largest in state history; it killed one person and destroyed 935 structures.
No fatalities to civilians or firefighters have been reported in the Park Fire, according to its latest incident update.
