Active wildfires across California have consumed more than 626,000 acres as of Saturday, according to Cal Fire.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for areas affected by two wildfires Friday night, saying they've destroyed homes and threatened infrastructure.
The proclamations cover Butte and Tehama counties — home to the massive Park Fire — and Plumas County, home to the much smaller Gold Complex Fire.
The proclamations ease access to unemployment benefits and waive fees to replace lost driver’s licenses and other records, among other benefits for fire victims, the governor's office said.
Homes, infrastructure or both were threatened amid California’s seven uncontained large fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
The Park Fire started at a park in Chico on Wednesday and rapidly moved into wildlands to the north, blossoming to over 348,000 acres with no containment as of Saturday afternoon, according to Cal Fire. This officially makes the Park Fire California's seventh largest wildfire by acreage, according Cal Fire statistics.
It is the largest of the state's active fires on Saturday morning.
The Gold Complex Fire, which started Monday, has consumed 3,007 acres and was 50% contained by Saturday afternoon, the agency's website indicates.
The fires, the governor's office said in a statement, were "forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents, destroying homes and threatening critical infrastructure."
The governor's office secured federal funding to bolster the response to the Park Fire, according to a statement.
As of Saturday, the flames of the Park Fire have destroyed 134 structures, according to Cal Fire. Evacuations and road closures were in effect for it and the Gold Complex Fire, the National Interagency Fire Center said.
An evacuation warning is in effect for the entire town of Paradise, about 90 miles north of Sacramento. Residents are advised to prepare to evacuate should officials give them further instruction to do so. Paradise was the site of the deadly Camp Fire in 2018, which is considered to be the worst wildfire in modern state history.
The Park Fire, the largest wildfire in California so far this year, has been ominous, with video capturing a vortex of smoke that was a possible "firenado."
"In several hours, the #ParkFire exploded from a 400-acre fire to a more than 71,000-acre inferno consuming everything in its path," Cal Fire said on social media platform X on Thursday.
California's blazes were among a number of summer wildfires across the west and into Canada that were sending massive plumes of smoke into the atmosphere, where NASA satellites, aircraft and ground-based observatories have captured images of the pollution.
Authorities allege the Park Fire was started when a man pushed a car that was on fire into a gully on Wednesday.
"The car went down an embankment approximately 60 feet and burned completely, spreading flames that caused the Park Fire," Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in a statement.
He added, "The male was then seen calmly leaving the area by blending in with the other citizens who were in the area and fleeing the rapidly evolving fire."
A suspect, Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico, was arrested on Thursday, Ramsey said. He was booked on suspicion of felony arson and held without bail, according to Butte County Jail records.
It wasn't clear if Stout had legal representation. The contract public defender for Butte County did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.
Elsewhere in California, the Borel Fire, which ignited Wednesday in the Sequoia National Forest, has already burned more than 31,000 acres and tripled in size since Friday morning, according to the governor's office, which secured federal funding to bolster the response to the fire. The fire was 0% contained as of Saturday afternoon, according to the Sequoia National Forest.
In Clark County, Nevada, an air quality alert was issued due to the smoke from the Borel and Trout fires, which have drifted into the Las Vegas Valley. The Trout Fire ignited on July 13, according to Cal Fire. It has burned more than 22,000 acres and is 25% contained, per the Sequoia National Forest.
The National Weather Service field office in Hanford said law enforcement are assisting with evacuations due to Borel and advised residents to leave as soon as fire officials recommend it.
"This is a quickly spreading wildfire, expanding by five or more miles a day!" the weather service said on X.
Nearly 1 million people in the Western United States were covered by fire weather watches and warnings Friday night, with a red flag warning covering the area of the Park Fire through 11 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The warning states that the area will be subjected to gusty winds and low humidity.
The nonprofit news and research organization Climate Central said in an analysis earlier this year that some parts of California, Oregon and Washington have twice as much fire weather than a century ago, a development that correlates to climate change.
