Last Wednesday, a man pushed a burning car into a gully near Chico, a college town north of Sacramento, according to the authorities. Within days, the flames have consumed more than 370,000 acres and the Park fire has become the largest active blaze in the country.
Thousands of people are under evacuation orders and at least 111 structures have been destroyed, according to Cal Fire.
Residents of this part of California have dealt with one fire after another in recent years. In 2018, the Camp fire destroyed the town of Paradise and became the deadliest fire in state history. In 2021, the Dixie fire burned nearly a million acres. That history loomed large for Paul Mozzino, who was working an afternoon shift at a grocery store in Chico last week when he heard the alerts about a nearby fire. He thought, “Oh God, not again.”
Here are photos from the last few days as the Park fire — already one of the largest in the state’s history — burned through this swath of Northern California.
The Park fire burned into the night in Butte County, northeast of Chico, on Sunday.
A California Conservation Corps firefighter took part in a backfire operation on Monday.
Smoke rose above the road as the Park fire jumped Highway 36 in Tehama County on Friday.
The hills near Chico on Thursday.
A helicopter dropped water on the Park fire along Highway 32 in Butte County on Saturday.
The plum of smoke from the Park fire on Friday.
A home destroyed by the Park fire in the Forest Ranch area in Butte County on Friday.
The burned remains of cars destroyed by the fire on Friday.
The Park fire burned below Highway 32 near Lomo on Friday.
Firefighters set controlled burns along Highway 32 near Chico on Saturday.
A Cal Fire firefighter sprayed down hot spots along Highway 32 as the Park fire continued to grow on Saturday.
A firefighter monitored a burn operation on Highway 32 near Forest Ranch on Sunday.
Horses were evacuated as the Park fire tore though the Cohasset community in Butte County on Thursday.
A firefighter kept a close eye on a controlled burn along Highway 32 on Saturday.
Fire trucks lined Highway 32 on Friday.
Almendra Lawrence contributed reporting.
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