A wildfire in Butte County exploded overnight, spreading from about 6,500 acres Wednesday evening to about 125,000 acres by Thursday afternoon, and authorities arrested a Chico man they suspect started the blaze, according to Cal Fire and law enforcement officials.
The Park Fire forced widespread evacuation orders and warnings and destroyed multiple homes in areas north of Chico, Cal Fire said.
As of Thursday afternoon, the blaze had burned 71,489 acres and was only 3% contained. The fire then grew to 124,949 acres as of 6 p.m.
The wildfire sparked just before 3 p.m. Wednesday off Upper Park Road in Upper Bidwell Park, east of Chico, Cal Fire said.
Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said an unidentified man was arrested after he was seen pushing a car that was on fire into a gully near the Alligator Hole in upper Bidwell Park shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday. The car went down an embankment and the flames spread.
At about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, the agency said the fire had burned about 6,400 acres. By 4 a.m. Thursday, the fire had exploded to about seven times that size.
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Video from one of the fire lines captured an explosion of a structure that had been burning.
Firefighters were focusing on evacuations and structure defense while also building containment lines using bulldozers, fire crews and fire engines, Cal Fire said.
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There were no known injuries as of Thursday morning.
For more information about the fire, evacuation zones and evacuation centers, visit the Cal Fire website.
