Shingletown district evacuated as Park Fire advances north
Flames from the Park Fire advance north along Highway 36 into the Paynes Creek area on Friday, July 26.
Specifically for the Redding Record Searchlight
More than two weeks later, the Park Fire is still raging in Butte and Tehama counties as firefighters continue to work in intense heat and difficult conditions to bring the arson-caused blaze, now the fourth largest in California history, under control.
The fire spread by less than 400 acres overnight and reached 429,118 acres on Saturday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
Containment also rose slightly to 36%. “This fire is difficult to contain due to the nearly vertical terrain, short fire history, and the amount of dead and fallen fuel. Firefighters continue to build direct lines where possible, and the fire is still being actively located,” Cal Fire said in its report early Saturday.
Although temperatures are expected to drop over the weekend, “the teams are working in extreme heat and under difficult conditions,” the agency said.
The Park Fire continues to spread in the Mill Creek area, although firefighters have made “significant progress in building containment lines,” Cal Fire said.
According to Cal Fire, emergency crews are expecting a cooling trend starting this weekend that will continue into next week, with temperatures expected to drop “close to the seasonal norm or even several degrees below.”
At lower altitudes, daily maximum temperatures reached around 35 degrees Celsius, while humidity rose to 15 to 20 percent, the agency’s report said.
Wind gusts of up to 20 to 25 mph could occur in parts of the fire area on Sunday afternoon, and “large fuels will continue to burn, complicating firefighting efforts,” the agency said.
According to Cal Fire, the Park Fire has destroyed 636 structures and damaged 49. The fire has also burned 113,022 acres in Lassen National Forest.
