Park Fire in Northern California explodes in its first day; arson suspect arrested: "We're shellshocked right now"
A wildfire that started Wednesday afternoon in a park near Chico, California, north of Sacramento, exploded in size overnight and continued to spread through the day Thursday — and investigators believe it was deliberately set. The Park Fire grew from about 6,400 acres late Wednesday night to 45,550 acres Thursday morning and then to over 71,400 acres — 111 square miles — Thursday afternoon, Cal Fire said. The fire was only 3% contained.
"This fire has fingers that are growing in different directions depending on which way the wind is blowing," Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said.
Cal Fire arson investigators have arrested a 42-year-old Chico man on suspicion of starting the blaze, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey announced. Officials later identified the suspect as Ronnie Dean Stout II.
His arrest followed reports of an unknown male seen pushing a burning car into a gully at around 3 p.m. Wednesday in the upper part of Bidwell Park, where the blaze broke out, the district attorney said. The car slid 60 feet down an embankment and went up in flames completely, sparking the Park Fire.
Ramsey said the man was then seen calmly leaving the area among other residents who fled as the fire rapidly grew. A local judge issued an arrest warrant Thursday morning, and Stout was booked into the Butte County Jail, where the warrant stipulated he would be held without bond until his arraignment on Monday.
Authorities in Butte County and neighboring Tehama County issued numerous evacuation orders and warnings as the Park Fire developed, CBS News Sacramento reported. Shelters were set up for people and for animals impacted by the fire, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said in a news release early Thursday that 3,500 people had already been evacuated from the area.
Julia Yarbough watched her house burn on her home security camera.
"We're shellshocked right now," she told CBS News' Jonathan Vigliotti, who was with her as she returned for the first time. "It really is surreal."
Newsom announced that the state received a grant from FEMA to bolster California's response to the fast-moving blaze. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the grant had been issued.
Homeland Security said roughly 1,100 homes in and around the towns of Eco, Richardson Springs and Cohasset, all within Butte County, were directly threatened at the time the agency received Newsom's request for assistance — which was before its size increased seven-fold. Those three towns alone are normally home to a population of about 10,000 people, the department said.
Cal Fire said more than 1,153 personnel were fighting the blaze.
Even after the arson suspect's arrest on Thursday, an investigation into the Park Fire and its cause remained ongoing, said Ramsey.
Butte County's recent wildfires
Butte County has had a very busy fire season this summer, CBS News Sacramento points out.
The Thomspon Fire in the Oroville area recently scorched more than 3,700 acres, forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, and destroyed dozens of structures, including houses.
The day after the Thompson Fire started, the Grubbs Fire just south of that in Palermo was much smaller but also forced evacuations.
In mid-July, the Railbridge Fire, just south of Palermo, burned 130 acres, forced evacuations, destroyed or damaged several structures and injured at least one person.
Back in June, the Apache Fire, which burned in the same general area near Oroville and Palermo, scorched nearly 700 acres and forced its own round of evacuations.
Nearly two weeks before the Apache Fire, the Junes Fire burned nearly 1,100 acres in Palermo and also forced people from their homes.
