Park Fire in California could continue growing exponentially, Cal Fire officer says

Transcript

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The Park Fire in Northern California has more than tripled in size since yesterday morning. It now encompasses more than 178,000 acres. The blaze has forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate in the foothills west of Chico and destroyed 134 structures so far. Climate reporter Ezra David Romero of member station KQED reports.

EZRA DAVID ROMERO, BYLINE: David Eleazer lives below the timberline above Chico. He tried to evacuate Wednesday but had to return home because the fire crossed the road to his house. Thursday morning, he was able to get off the mountain.

DAVID ELEAZER: Everything was burning on both sides of the road. I lost my dogs.

ROMERO: He's unsure if his dogs are alive. He couldn't find them to bring them with him.

ELEAZER: Yeah, they were with me when I tried to get out of there the first time. And then they sent me back to my home, and they - but I don't know what happened. They got confused.

ROMERO: Evacuation warnings were extended Thursday night as far as 12 miles away, to the town of Paradise, which was devastated by the Camp Fire in 2018. It's the second time in five years Eleazer has had to evacuate because of a wildfire. He lost his previous home in 2020 during another fire nearby. This time, he wasn't surprised.

ELEAZER: This is the only place that really hasn't burned in Butte County yet, you know? It's the only place with big trees, and, yeah, we've been talking about it.

ROMERO: Arson investigators arrested a man they believe ignited the Park Fire by pushing a burning car into a gully in Bidwell Park on the northwestern edge of Chico. Law enforcement is holding him without bail.

(SOUNDBITE OF FIRE TRUCK PASSING)

ROMERO: At the Park Fire's incident command center at the fairgrounds in Chico, some fire crews are returning from the growing blaze, and new ones are heading out. Dan Collins is a Cal Fire public information officer.

DAN COLLINS: They are coming in off of their line assignment to get some food, get resupplied and to go get a hotel so they can rest for the night.

ROMERO: In the distance, a cloud of smoke from the fire is ballooning into the sky.

COLLINS: That's a big indicator of extreme fire behavior on the grounds.

ROMERO: A red flag warning is in place until 11 tonight. Collins said the blaze has the potential to grow exponentially.

COLLINS: We expect a challenging firefight for our air and ground resources.

ROMERO: He said grasses and shrubs are just too dry, temperatures too hot and winds too strong to contain the fire quickly.

For NPR News, I'm Ezra David Romero in Chico. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.