Fire Burning in CA is One of the Largest in History

If you have stepped out of your house this month, you already know that there are fires burning all around California.

Crews from around the world have come to help battle fires in the Pacific Northwest section of the United States. Crews from Australia have been helping battle fires in northern California.

Park Fire Burning in CA Devastates Nearly Half a Million Acres So Far

A main fire of concern in California is the Park Fire, burning north of Sacramento near Chico, which has burned at least 420,827 acres and is only around 34 percent contained. According to the Western Fire Chiefs website, it grew nearly 6,000 acres in the last 24 hours, despite efforts by fire crews. There are 6.6 thousand responders assigned to the Park Fire.

While there are many small fires around the state, California is reporting 9 large fires that have burned 514,842 acres (420 thousand of that alone is the Park Fire) and none of them are listed as contained.

Massive Fire Burning in CA Among the Top 5 Largest in History

The Park Fire is massive, but it isn’t the largest in the history of California. Instead, it is listed as the 4th largest in the state’s history. The August Complex Fire from August of 2020 is the state’s largest ever, it burned 1,032,648 acres to the west of where the current Park Fire is burning. More than 10 million acres burned in the United States in 2020. Last the total was less than 3 million, one of the lowest since 1998.

The August Complex Fire was started by lightning while the Park Fire was reportedly started when a man pushed a burning car into a ravine.

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As big as the Park Fire is in California, Oregon is reporting that more than 1 million acres have burned in their current 28 fires.