California’s Park Fire destroys buildings and forces thousands to flee as a fast-moving fire ravages Canadian tourist town

By CNN

Published July 27, 2024 2:22 AM

CNN

By Dalia Faheid, CNN

(CNN) — California’s largest wildfire of the year has burned an area larger than the size of the city of Los Angeles, destroyed dozens of buildings and forced thousands of residents to flee their homes as wildfires wreak havoc in the Western United States. Meanwhile, homes and businesses in a popular Canadian resort town were incinerated as a wildfire continued to roar through the area. Here’s the latest:

• California’s Park Fire now state’s 8th largest: As the Park Fire exploded across parts of Butte and Tehama counties, north of Sacramento, California, it scorched 134 buildings and threatened another 4,200. The fast moving blaze has burned more than 307,000 acres, or about 480 square miles, making it the eighth largest wildfire in recorded state history. More than 2,400 firefighters are working to slow the fire’s progress as it remains 0% contained, according to Cal Fire.

• California governor declares state of emergency: Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for both counties Friday. The state also secured a federal grant to ensure there are enough resources to fight the blaze. The fire is advancing at 4,000 to 5,000 acres per hour, Billy See, incident commander for Cal Fire, said Friday. With winds forecast to die down overnight and higher humidity moving into the area, See believes firefighters will have a better chance to slow the fire down.

• A man is accused of igniting Park Fire: A 42-year-old man, identified as Ronnie Dean Stout II, was arrested on suspicion of pushing a burning car 60 feet into a gully, “spreading flames that caused the Park Fire,” authorities said. The DA says the man was seen “calmly leaving the area by blending in with the other citizens who were in the area and fleeing the rapidly evolving fire.” Stout, who has not retained an attorney, will likely face an arson charge, the DA’s office told CNN.

• Pilot dies while fighting Oregon fire: A firefighting pilot was found dead in a single-engine air tanker on Friday after going missing the night before while working in the vicinity of the 219-square-mile Falls Fire burning in the Malheur National Forest, according to officials. The fire, which was 55% contained as of Saturday morning, is among a number of large wildfires burning across Oregon. The largest active wildfire in the state is the Durkee Fire, which has scorched about 451 square miles and was 27% contained as of Saturday morning.

• Fire wipes out many of a Canadian town’s buildings: A fast-moving wildfire sent thousands of visitors and residents fleeing the town of Jasper in Alberta, where flames devastated an estimated 30% of the town’s structures. Officials say the losses are significant, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has deployed federal support to help battle the blaze. Cool temperatures are expected to calm fire behavior, which will help the 154 firefighters in Jasper fight the blaze, Jasper National Park said on Facebook Friday night. High winds, however, could increase fire activity.

• 96 large wildfires burning nationwide: Triple-digit heat and dry conditions across the West this week have made conditions poor for firefighters actively fighting to contain the dozens of wildfires burning nationwide, including 36 in Oregon and 14 in California. “Elevated to critical fire weather conditions will persist through the weekend across the Western U.S. Isolated dry thunderstorms could lead to new fire starts over portions of the northern Rockies,” the National Weather Service said. Smoke from wildfires will also result in continued unhealthy air quality.

Park Fire makes some California residents relive tragedy

The Park Fire, which began Wednesday in the Chico area, has forced about 4,000 people to evacuate in Butte County, where the state’s deadliest wildfire, the Camp Fire, killed more than 85 people and destroyed thousands of homes in 2018.

A heavy plume of smoke once again looms over the county as crews battle thick flames that are torching everything in their path. The Park Fire has left graveyards of burned cars and charred, hallowed out structures, video from the Chico area shows.

For Butte County residents, the advancing flames bring with them painful memories of the losses they endured from the Camp Fire six years ago.

One evacuee, Tim Ferguson, told CNN affiliate KOVR he had lost his father in the Camp Fire, and it’s painful thinking about having to experience more loss this time around.

“We’ve got our home, and we’ve been working on it a lot lately, fixing it up, and it’s just we’re at the verge of maybe losing all that,” Ferguson said.

Lauri Schwein, who lost her home in the Camp Fire, told CNN affiliate KCRA she’s on high alert. “I’m packing up, my dog, my cat,” she said. “All I can do is wait and watch.”

In the town of Paradise, the smoke is enough to bring back the horrors the Camp Fire unleashed when it incinerated much of the town.

“It was very impactful, every once in a while we smell smoke or see smoke like that, it does trigger us. It triggers the people here in Paradise. When you go through trauma, that’s what happens,” Ron Lassonde, the mayor of Paradise, told KCRA.

The Park Fire is burning just three weeks after the Thomspon Fire in Butte County burned more than 3,700 acres, forced people from their homes, and destroyed more than two dozen structures, including houses.

Local officials cautioned that it would take some time before people would be allowed back in their homes.

“We are no strangers to evacuations in Butte County,” said Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea at a news conference Friday. “We are constantly looking for the earliest opportunity to get people back in.”

The North Valley Animal Disaster Group has rescued 88 animals from the blaze as its members dealt with losses of their own. In 2018, the group managed to shelter over 4,000 animals during the Camp Fire.

“When you’ve been through a big fire and you’ve lost everything, sometimes the only thing you have left to give is to go help the animals,” Vice President Norm Rosene told CNN.

Triple-digit temperatures and high wind gusts have fueled the explosive growth of the Park Fire amid an active fire season in California. An estimated 467,000 acres have burned across the state so far in 2024, compared to 22,600 acres burned by this time last year, according to Cal Fire.

“It’s been nothing but challenging,” Cal Fire Captain Dan Collins told CNN. “If we see fires behave like this in July, they may behave even more radically come the fall when the fields are even drier.”

Lodge owner in Canadian tourist town sees business go up in flames

In Jasper, a popular tourist town in Alberta, 25,000 residents and visitors were forced to evacuate from a fast-moving blaze that has destroyed 30% of the town’s structures, officials said.

Two wildfires converged in the Jasper National Park area, becoming what authorities are referring to as the Jasper Wildfire Complex. It remains difficult to measure exactly how big the complex – which also includes a third nearby fire – is due to extreme fire behavior and thick smoke cover. Together, the fires have swallowed an estimated 89,000 acres, the Jasper National Park said.

An evacuation order remains in effect for Jasper and Jasper National Park, with the vast majority of evacuees being visitors, officials said. Along with about 5,000 residents who live in the town, 2.48 million people visited Jasper National Park last year.

Out of a total of 1,113 structures in the town, 358 have been destroyed, according to a Facebook post from Jasper National Park.

The owner of Maligne Lodge in Jasper told CNN news partner CTV News that she was shocked when she saw a photo of the 98-room hotel up in flames. It had been in the family since 1961 after her father purchased the property, and she had been working there since she was a child.

“As soon as we’re given the go-ahead, we’ll be in there rebuilding our hotel,” Karyn Decore said.

Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland lost the home that his family had moved into around his second birthday, according to CTV News.

On a tour of the wreckage in Jasper, Ireland said that the loss of his home of 67 years “is shattering.”

“Now it’s memories of family and fire,” Ireland told CNN news partner CBC. “So many others are going to go through this same thing.”

But he said “when I stood back and looked, and saw what remains, I know that the community is still there.”

CNN’s Paradise Afshar, Taylor Romine, Kara Mihm and Jillian Sykes contributed to this report.

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