With nearly half-million acres scorched, wildfire emergencies declared in California

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for areas affected by two wildfires Friday night, saying they’ve destroyed homes and threatened infrastructure.

The proclamations cover Butte and Tehama counties — home to the massive Park Fire — and Plumas County, home to the much smaller Gold Complex Fire.

The proclamations ease access to unemployment benefits and waive fees to replace lost driver’s licenses and other records, among other benefits for fire victims, the governor’s office said.

The Park Fire started at a park in Chico on Wednesday and rapidly moved into wildlands to the north, blossoming to 239,152 acres with no containment as of Friday night, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

It was the largest of the state’s active fires on Friday.

The Gold Complex Fire has consumed 3,007 acres and was 11% contained Friday night, the agency said.

The fires, the governor’s office said in a statement, were “forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents, destroying homes and threatening critical infrastructure.”

Active and recent wildfires across the state have consumed nearly a half-million acres, according to Cal Fire. Homes, infrastructure or both were threatened amid California’s six uncontained large fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

The flames of the Park Fire have so far destroyed 134 structures, according to Cal Fire. Evacuations and road closures were in effect for it and the Gold Complex Fire, the National Interagency Fire Center said.

The Park Fire, the largest wildfire in California so far this year, has been ominous, with video capturing a vortex of smoke that was a possible “firenado.”

“In several hours, the #ParkFire exploded from a 400-acre fire to a more than 71,000-acre inferno consuming everything in its path,” Cal Fire said on social media platform X on Thursday.

California’s blazes were among a number of summer wildfires across the west and into Canada that were sending massive plumes of smoke into the atmosphere, where NASA satellites, aircraft and ground-based observatories have captured images of the pollution.

Authorities allege the Park Fire was started when a man pushed a car that was on fire into a gully on Wednesday.

“The car went down an embankment approximately 60 feet and burned completely, spreading flames that caused the Park Fire,” Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in a statement.

He added, “The male was then seen calmly leaving the area by blending in with the other citizens who were in the area and fleeing the rapidly evolving fire.”

A suspect, Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico, was arrested on Thursday, Ramsey said. He was booked on suspicion of felony arson and held without bail, according to Butte County Jail records.

It wasn’t clear if Stout had legal representation. The contract public defender for Butte County did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.

Nearly 1 million people in the Western United States were covered by fire weather watches and warnings Friday night, with a red flag warning covering the area of the Park Fire through 11 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The warning states that the area will be subjected to gusty winds and low humidity.

The nonprofit news and research organization Climate Central said in an analysis earlier this year that some parts of California, Oregon and Washington have twice as much fire weather than a century ago, a development that correlates to climate change.