Updated at 12:30 a.m. Saturday
The Park Fire has already destroyed at least 134 structures, pushed some 4,000 people from their homes and charred more than 307,000 acres since it ignited Wednesday afternoon. It grew Friday amid hot, dry conditions and gusty winds, becoming the state鈥檚 on record, according to Cal Fire.
During the day Friday, the fire more than doubled in size, tearing through grass, brush, timber and dead vegetation in difficult terrain for firefighters.
鈥淚t鈥檚 burning in inaccessible areas, in areas with little to no fire history, and into the Ishi Wilderness,鈥� Cal Fire Capt. Dan Collins, a public information officer on the Park Fire, said Friday. 鈥淪o couple that with heavy fuel loads, both dead and live 鈥� that鈥檚 why the fire grew exponentially overnight.鈥�
The rural communities of Cohasset and Forest Ranch along Highway 32, which have been ordered to evacuate, are under threat. Immediate evacuations were ordered in Forest Ranch on Friday 鈥渄ue to the extreme danger of being overtaken by the fire,鈥� the Butte County Sheriff鈥檚 Office said .
The fire was burning above Forest Ranch as numerous spot fires broke out along Highway 32, forcing Cal Fire to roll out a significant deployment in an effort to protect the community.
By Friday evening, it had made a major run to the north and crossed Highway 36, the route between Red Bluff and the Mount Lassen area, according to Cal Fire units in the area.
Weather conditions were expected to improve over the weekend, but not before getting worse Friday night, according to Cal Fire鈥檚 fire behavior unit. Strong southeasterly winds of up to 30 mph could sweep across the area between 10 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday; although that could help keep the fire out of Forest Ranch, it could also aid the blaze鈥檚 strong push into more remote, sparsely populated terrain to the north.
Firefighters were focused Friday on trying to prevent the blaze from sweeping into Cohasset, where several hundred homes are dispersed along a ridge about 10 miles northeast of Chico.
Cohasset Road, the only paved road in or out of the woodland community, was overrun by the fire on Wednesday evening, but evacuees were guided to safety by firefighters and Sierra Pacific lumber workers who drove over remote logging roads to get them to Highway 32.
George Sikorski, 81, was one of those evacuees. He has lived in Cohasset for more than 30 years.
鈥淭here have been a number of fires in this particular area. Most of them have been relatively small, and they got on them really quickly,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his one, they got on quickly, but it was just too much.鈥�
The in Butte County has now surpassed 164,000 acres. Take a moment to watch this powerful video and consider how you and your family are prepared for the threat of wildfire. For more information on the Park Fire visit:
— CAL FIRE Chief (@CALFIRE_CHIEF)
He said he鈥檚 been on edge all summer amid as vegetation that flourished during excessive rain this past winter dries out.
鈥淓verything is drier this year, and the fire spread rapidly,鈥� he said.
David Eleazer, 63, lives in the tree line above where the fire started to spread Wednesday evening.
鈥淭he power went out. Cell phone went out. Everything went out. I was up there all night with no information. So I just started packing,鈥� he said.
When he left Thursday morning, he couldn鈥檛 find his Rottweilers.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what happened,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey got confused and took off.鈥�
Julie Phillips, 55, said the fire moved quickly on Cohasset.
鈥淚t was real. It was very, very fast. We had no chance really to get anything, so we got our dogs, which meant everything to us,鈥� she said Friday at an evacuation center set up at Neighborhood Church of Chico.
As she was evacuating, she said, her car ran out of gas, forcing her to roll down the mountain road until she got to a flat, where a friend passed by.
鈥淗e literally turned around and chained us up and brought us to Eaton Avenue gas station so that we would make it, you know, so people come together during things like this,鈥� Phillips said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just thankful to be here and have a place to go because I have nowhere now.鈥�
The fire is burning just a few miles from the town of Paradise, which is under evacuation warnings. Much of the town was destroyed in the 2018 Camp Fire, the .
Two people with minor injuries have been treated and released by firefighters, authorities said in a press conference on Thursday night.
Crews faced difficult conditions as they battled the fire on Friday. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning through Friday night, as temperatures were expected to exceed 100 degrees in some areas, and relative humidity was quite low.
As heat built throughout the day, the fire鈥檚 smoke column grew due to the lifting of the inversion layer, or a band of warm air that keeps cooler air trapped underneath, said Collins, the Cal Fire captain.
鈥淭hat column and header is a clear indicator of what the fire is doing. So if you see a very angry smoke column that鈥檚 growing and then also perhaps swirling, that鈥檚 a big indicator of extreme fire behavior on the ground,鈥� Collins said. 鈥淲e expect a very active day and a challenging firefight for our air and ground resources.鈥�
The conditions raised the likelihood of 鈥渞apid spread of any fires,鈥� NWS Sacramento meteorologist Sara Purdue said.
Conditions are expected to improve into the weekend, Purdue said.
Arson investigators believe the blaze was started by a man who pushed a burning car into a gully in Chico鈥檚 upper Bidwell Park.
Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico, was on suspicion of arson and is being held without bail in Butte County Jail. He has two prior felony convictions for child molestation in 2001 and robbery with great bodily injury in 2002, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said.
碍蚕贰顿鈥檚&苍产蝉辫; and contributed to this report.
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