Crews Battling California’s Park Fire Face Hotter and Drier Conditions

Firefighters battle the Park fire near Chico, Calif., on Aug. 2, 2024. (Courtesy of Cal Fire)

Crews battling California’s Park fire faced hotter and drier weather Aug. 5 and the massive blaze continued burning through steep canyons and dead brush.

The higher temperatures and lower humidity were forecast to arrive in Tehama County, where most of the fire burned Monday, along with seasonal winds.

The county seat of Red Bluff, California, about 45 miles northwest of where the fire started in Chico, could reach a high of 100 degrees Monday, ticking up to 102 Tuesday and 103 Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

“It’s going to challenge us in that northeast corner,” the fire’s incident commander Billy See, also the assistant fire chief of Fresno County Fire Protection District, told more than 6,600 fire personnel at a briefing Monday morning.

Fire officials expected humidity to drop to 10 percent in some areas Monday, blowing more heat and smoke toward crews working in the eastern flank of the fire around Lyman Springs and the Lassen National Forest.

Crews from out of state were also expected to arrive to help contain the blaze, which witnesses said started after a man pushed a burning car down a ravine at a Chico city park July 24.

Firefighters reached 34 percent containment over the weekend and no injuries have been reported among the thousands of firefighters or affected residents, according to officials.

The fire has grown to nearly 628 square miles and continues to burn across four counties—Butte, Tehama, Plumas, and Shasta—with most of it burning in eastern Tehama County.

As of Monday, the blaze has destroyed 640 homes and buildings and damaged 52 others.

Some rain arrived Sunday, allowing hand crews and bulldozers to build more fire lines around the perimeter to contain the flames. But by Monday, that moisture had left the area, officials said.

“The Park fire spread was limited to the eastern portion of the fire overnight,” California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection wrote in an afternoon update Monday.

A section of the fire burned in Mill Creek and remained active overnight as the fire increased with hotter and drier weather Monday morning.

Mill Creek runs through the Lassen National Forest, where about 150 square miles have burned in the fire. Lassen Volcanic National Park, inside the forest, remained closed to the public.

The dry brush and trees around the area and steep canyons have also contributed to the fire’s continued growth, officials said.

Increased smoke was expected in the region this week.

The fire has also burned about 150 square miles inside the Lassen National Forest. Lassen Volcanic National Park, inside the forest, remained closed to the public.

The Park fire remains the fourth-largest fire in California’s history.

The emergency center didn’t have an estimation of the number of people under evacuation Monday, according to Spokesman Chris Peterson, but several residents were allowed to return home during the weekend.

“We opened up quite a few of the evacuations on the lower end of the fire all the way up to the Butte Meadows community,” Mr. Peterson told The Epoch Times.

Some residents remained under evacuation orders in Butte and Tehama counties, while others in Plumas and Shasta counties were under evacuation warnings, he added.