Updated on Saturday, July 27 at 6:10 p.m.
The Park Fire has burned approximately 350,012 acres as of Saturday afternoon, doubling in size since Friday afternoon.
The fire is burning in Tehama and Butte counties.
Major nearby towns, including Chico and Red Bluff, have avoided evacuations so far.
Evacuations remain in place in , , and Counties.
The fire is active and 10% contained.
On Friday night, the fire grew aggressively due to steep terrain and high winds, according to CALFIRE.
Today, cooler weather and higher moisture is expected in the region.
The fire continues to spread quickly because of gusty winds and a lot of dry fuels, Rick Carhart from CALFIRE said Friday afternoon.
鈥淥ne of the challenges with some of the areas that this fire is burning in is that it has not seen fire activity in decades, in basically as long as some people can remember," Carhart said.
This region has also recently faced triple-digit temperatures, and there hasn鈥檛 been any rain for months.
But, some relief could come this weekend, with temperatures dropping back down to the low 90s during the day, according to the National Weather Service.
鈥淚t will be nice around here to look at the temperature gauge in the middle of the afternoon and only see a two-digit number for once in a long time," Carhart said.
The lower temperatures mean the fire will likely slow, giving crews more time to dig containment lines to prevent it from spreading to more populated areas.
The official cause of the fire is listed as arson. Chico resident Ronnie Dean Stout II was arrested by CALFIRE arson investigators on Thursday morning. In a press release, the Butte County District Attorney said the man is suspected of pushing a burning car down an embankment in Upper Bidwell Park, spreading flames that caused the Park Fire. He is being held at the Butte County Jail without bail until his arraignment on Monday.
Carhart said they鈥檝e dedicated a large number of crew members to protecting homes and other buildings in the affected area, including in Cohasset and Forest Ranch.
As of Saturday morning, damage inspection teams are trying to identify damaged or destroyed structures. According to CALFIRE's last update on Friday afternoon, 4,200 structures were threatened and 134 were destroyed.
