It鈥檚 been nearly a week since the Park Fire ignited in far Northern California, near Chico. Thousands of residents have evacuated as low humidity and high temperatures have led it to become the largest wildfire in the country.
Evacuation orders are in place in . Cal Fire estimates there are 25,000 evacuees.
Shelters have opened in Los Molinos and Chico, among other places, and there are additional shelters for animals.
Richard Yale is a retired priest who has been helping out at the shelters. He said evacuees are just waiting, looking for direction.
"I don't really think the full import of what's happening has settled on people yet. We're still in early days. We're not seeing huge PTSD manifesting. What we're seeing is watchfulness and concern," he said.
He鈥檚 especially worried about residents because the region has been so hard hit by other wildfires in recent years: the Camp and Carr Fires in 2018 and the Dixie Fire in 2021.
Yale said he鈥檚 trying to provide much-needed community support because there鈥檚 a lot of uncertainty and questions about what will happen next and when evacuees will get to go home.
"It鈥檚 a waiting game," said Steve Walsh, a spokesman for the American Red Cross, which is helping run three evacuation centers in Los Molinos, Bella Vista and Chico. "It causes these evacuees stress and anxiety and sadness because they all want to go home. Nobody really wants to be in a shelter. But as long as they need a place to stay, that's what we're there for."
He said 149 evacuees spent the night at the three shelters on Sunday, but there鈥檚 still plenty of space.
Meanwhile, some evacuation orders have been downgraded in Shasta, Tehama and Butte Counties.
As of Monday afternoon, the fire was 12% contained and had burned 370,236 acres.
Firefighters are preparing for more fire activity this week after a cooler, more humid weekend.
"This week, temperatures are going to change. They're starting to increase. So it is going to present a challenge for us because the fire is predicted to start up again, due to the increase in temperature and the drop in relative humidity," said Sergio Arellano, a public information officer for Cal Fire.
He said the Park Fire is unusual due to its rate of spread and high wind activity.
According to Cal Fire, there are nearly 5,000 firefighters working on the fire.
111 structures have been confirmed destroyed, and six were damaged.
"I'm going to ask you to be very patient," Tehama County Sheriff Dave Kain said at a Cal Fire virtual press briefing on Monday. "This fire is extremely unstable and unpredictable."
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