The blaze dubbed the “Park Fire” broke out on Wednesday night in the northern part of the state, the last day of a new heat wave to hit the region. In less than 24 hours, it has already burned nearly 290 square kilometers of vegetation.
Firefighters in California are battling a violent wildfire that has displaced more than 3,500 people and is spreading rapidly, according to local authorities.
The blaze dubbed the “Park Fire” broke out on Wednesday night in the northern part of the state, the last day of a new heat wave to hit the region. In less than 24 hours, it has already burned nearly 290 square kilometers of vegetation.
The fire has forced more than 3,500 people from their homes, according to California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The flames especially threaten the small town of Chico, nearly three hours north of San Francisco.
More than 1,150 firefighters are working to extinguish the blaze, which is currently only 3 percent contained, according to the CalFire Forestry and Fire Protection Service.
This forest fire brings back bad memories in California: Chico is only 20 kilometers from Paradise, a city that was destroyed by a large fire in 2018 and where 85 people lost their lives.
The fire appears to have been caused by arson: a suspect was arrested on Thursday morning and taken into custody, according to the local prosecutor’s office.
The American West has experienced several heat waves since early June, and dozens of wildfires are now burning across the region.
California’s neighbor Oregon is battling a mega-fire, the largest in the country, which has destroyed more than 1,080 km2 of forest and prompted the evacuation of areas in a rural part of the state.
Large flames are creating plumes of smoke affecting air quality as far away as neighboring Idaho.
The fires are also affecting western Canada, where part of the tourist town of Jasper was destroyed.
With global warming, the western part of the North American continent is increasingly affected by extreme weather events.
In mid-July, California’s governor warned of a very intense fire season following a two-year hiatus of very wet winters that allowed vegetation to regenerate.
As of mid-July, wildfires had destroyed 840 km2 since the start of the year, compared to an average of 156 km2 over the same period over the past five years.
Source :Skai
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