Park Fire explodes to more than 160,000 acres near Chico. See stunning satellite imagery
In less than three days, the Park Fire has exploded to more than 160,000 acres, and satellite imagery shows its destruction across parts of two California counties.
Time-lapse satellite footage shared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on X shows the fire burning across Butte and Tehama counties on Thursday, just a day after the fire began.
This stunning imagery from @NOAA's #GOESWest ️ yesterday shows the explosive growth of California's #ParkFire, which has now burned more than 164,000 acres. Included are some photos of the massive #wildfire as seen from the ground nearby. pic.twitter.com/PJKNxYfTdG
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) July 26, 2024
The imagery shows thick smoke billowing from the intense, widespread fire that began Wednesday afternoon after a 42-year-old Chicho man, who has been arrested, allegedly pushed his mother’s car into a ditch near Alligator Hole in Upper Bidwell Park.
At 164,282 acres with zero containment on Friday morning, the fire is the largest wildfire in California so far this year, four times the size of the second-largest fire that occurred earlier this month in Santa Barbara County.
More than 4,000 residents in Butte and Tehama counties remain under evacuation orders after the fire ravaged foothill communities such as Cohasset and Richardson Springs.
