Officials charge man for starting Park Fire in California that has burned more than 45,000 acres

CHICO, Calif. -- A Northern California wildland occurrence that exploded overnight into the state's largest blaze this wildfire season, destroying structures and prompting thousands of evacuations, was allegedly started by a antheral who pushed a burning car into a gully, authorities said Thursday.

The 48-year-old arson fishy charged with starting the Park Fire successful Butte County adjacent the metropolis of Chico was arrested Thursday greeting and jailed without bail, said Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey. The suspect's sanction was not instantly released.

The fishy was allegedly spotted conscionable earlier 3 p.m. section clip connected Wednesday, pushing a car that was connected occurrence down a gully called "Alligator Hole" successful Bidwell Park, adjacent Chico, Ramsey said.

"The car went down an embankment astir 60 feet and burned completely, spreading flames that caused the Park Fire," Ramsey said successful a statement.

A antheral who was aboriginal identified arsenic the fishy was seen calmly leaving the country by blending successful with different parkland visitors fleeing the rapidly evolving fire, Ramsey said.

The fishy is scheduled to beryllium arraigned adjacent week, Ramsey said.

The Park Fire successful Butte County, California, and the Durkee Fire successful Oregon, the largest occurrence burning successful the nation, continued filling West Coast skies Thursday with fume arsenic gusty winds and treacherous terrain were dealing challenges to firefighters battling some blazes, officials said.

Park Fire is becomes largest 2024 wildfire successful the state

The Park Fire started astir 3 p.m. Wednesday northeast of the metropolis of Chico successful Bidwell Park and by Thursday had burned 45,550 acres, destroyed an undetermined fig of structures and caused the Butte County Sheriff's Department to bid evacuations for agrarian foothill communities successful the area, including astir the full municipality of Cohasset, which has a colonisation of astir 400.

More than 1,100 firefighters were warring the flames Thursday morning, utilizing helicopters and cutting occurrence lines with bulldozers successful a hopeless effort to forestall the occurrence from spreading to homes successful the densely populated areas of northbound Chico, authorities said.

The Park Fire was conscionable 3% contained Thursday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

"The occurrence is good established. Fire unit are presently focusing connected evacuations and operation defence portion concurrently gathering nonstop containment lines utilizing bulldozers, occurrence crews and occurrence engines," Cal Fire said successful an updated connection Thursday morning. "More resources person been ordered and are inbound from assorted areas passim Northern California."

The origin of the occurrence remains nether investigation.

At slightest 3,800 radical were nether evacuation orders successful Butte and Tehama counties, officials said.

The Park Fire rapidly grew into the state's largest conflagration this wildfire season, surpassing the Lake Fire adjacent Santa Barbara successful Southern California that started connected July 5. As of Thursday morning, the Lake Fire had burned 38,664 and was 90% contained, according to Cal Fire. The blaze destroyed 4 structures and near astatine slightest six firefighters injured, Cal Fire reported.

The Butte County blaze was 1 of 64 caller fires that erupted successful California Wednesday, according to Cal Fire.

Rick Carhart, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, told ABC News Thursday that blistery temperatures and steep, rugged terrain successful the burning country are making things hard for firefighters.

Carhart -- who described the occurrence enactment arsenic "dynamic" -- said the somesthesia successful the country this week has been 100 to 110 degrees.

Officials said that successful the archetypal 12 hours of the fire, flames were burning 4,000 acres per hour.

"It's very, precise hot. It's bony adust and beauteous overmuch each spark that hits the crushed is going to commencement a fire," Carhart said.

He said the country wherever the occurrence is astir progressive hasn't burned successful 20 years, providing an abundance of adust vegetation that is feeding the blaze.

Cal Fire officials said the fig of acres burned truthful acold successful this wildfire play is 15 times much than astatine this clip successful 2023. There person been astir 800 much fires this twelvemonth compared to last, including 54 that resulted successful arson arrests, according to Cal Fire.