A park fire that broke out near Chico on Wednesday has forced evacuation warnings and orders for the Shingletown-Menton area in the Northeast and Lassen Volcano National Park, where its spread has been slowed by favorable weather conditions.
The fire raged through Butte and Tehama counties for three days before crews took advantage of cooler temperatures and calmer winds Saturday to prevent the blaze from moving into Shasta County.
As of Sunday morning, the fire had burned 353,194 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which had grown by only about 3,000 acres overnight. The fire is 12% contained.
Cal Fire said the Park Fire was the seventh-largest wildfire in state history.
Officials also lowered their estimate of destroyed buildings to 66 from more than 100, but they expect the number to increase.
This weekend, an assessment team went to the site to investigate and confirm the damage caused by the fire. Cal Fire's report Saturday night listed 20 structures, but that number increased to 66 Sunday morning.
read more:Park fires a reminder of climate change's impact on California
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Friday due to damage caused by the fires.
8:30 a.m.: Weather helps slow fire's explosive growth
High humidity and low to moderate winds helped firefighters control the blaze, Park Fire Department public information officer Jeremy Hollinghead said Sunday.
“We've been taking direct action and really taking advantage of the weather. Men and women are working hard to try to solve this problem as quickly as possible,” he said.
The fire has forced evacuation warnings and orders in four counties, including Butte, Tehama, Shasta and Plumas.
Meanwhile, Hollingshead said the fire has burned about 5,000 acres north of Highway 36, but crews have prevented the fire from entering Menton and spreading into Shasta County.
“The fire continues to grow on the ridge in the Menton area. We have bulldozer ropes, fire retardant ropes and crews are going directly to the area to make sure it doesn't move any further north,” he said.
read more:Park fire threatens Manzanita Lake Campground in Lassen Park Historic District
Cal Fire said fires in the Northeast remain the most active.
Hollinghead said the weather will again assist firefighters on Sunday.
Note to readers: We are providing this story free of charge as an important public service to the Northstate community. If you can, help promote local journalism by subscribing to Record Searchlight/Redding.com or giving a gift of a subscription to someone you know. Your support will go a long way in helping us provide meaningful, in-depth reporting on the issues that matter to you.
“The weather in the Tehama-Shasta area will be partly cloudy,” he said, adding that relative humidity in the fire area will be around 30 percent. “This is much better than the situation two days before the fire.”
Hollingshead said nearly 4,000 firefighters were working on the blaze, with crews coming from outside the state.
