Firefighters make progress against California wildfire, but heat and fire risks grow in the West
OROVILLE, California — Firefighters made progress Friday in battling a California wildfire that prompted widespread evacuation orders, but damage assessments put the number of destroyed buildings at 25, and meteorologists said heat and fire hazard expanded on the west coast.
Restriction of the Thompson fire near the Butte County town of Oroville rose from 29% to 46% overnight, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The fire was measured at just under 6 square miles (15.5 square kilometers) after growing only slightly overnight.
Most evacuation orders, affecting about 17,000 people, were lifted on Thursday.
Firefighters “did a really good job yesterday” maintaining containment lines, and wind was not a factor, said Cal Fire Capt. Alejandro Cholico, a fire department spokesman.
A new fire, the French Fire, broke out Thursday night, prompting evacuations in the small Gold Rush town of Mariposa in the Sierra Nevada foothills along a highway leading to Yosemite National Park.
Bulldozers and plows built a line along the entire east side of Mariposa as flames spread across 1.3 square miles (3.4 square kilometers) before fire activity subsided.
“The wind has died down, allowing firefighters to make progress overnight,” a Cal Fire status report said.
In addition to the structures destroyed by the Thompson Fire, six others were damaged. There was no immediate information on the types of structures, but several homes were seen burning after the fire broke out Tuesday morning about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Sacramento.
The number of reported injuries among firefighters was reduced from four to two, Cholico said. The cause of the fire was still under investigation.
The Oroville region is no stranger to catastrophic events. The deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history has ravaged the city of paradise in Butte County in 2018.
Meanwhile, weather experts warned that the scorching heat wave in California will continue and spread to the Pacific Northwest and neighboring western states.
“The duration of this heat is also concerning, as scorching, above-average temperatures are forecast to persist into next week,” the National Weather Service wrote.
Among the extremes, the forecast for Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park calls for daytime highs of 129 degrees (53.89 degrees Celsius) on Sunday and then around 130 (54.44 C) through Wednesday. official world record for highest temperature The recorded temperature on Earth was 134 degrees (56.67 C) in Death Valley in July 1913, but some experts dispute that measurement and say the real record was 130 degrees, measured there in July 2021.
Since late spring, California has seen numerous wildfires, largely due to the abundance of grass that grew during the summer. successive wet winters and have now dried.
Most have remained small, but some have grown large. The largest active fire is the Basin Fire in the Sierra National Forest, which has burned nearly 22 square miles (57 square kilometers) since late June. As of Friday, it was 46% contained.