A large number of firefighters were deployed in California on Monday (July 29) to battle the state's largest wildfire of the year, which has prompted the evacuation of thousands of people and has burned an area larger than the city of Los Angeles.
The so-called Park Fire outside Chico, in the northern part of the state, has been burning since Wednesday in a rural area about three hours northeast of San Francisco.
The fire has now burned more than 149,700 acres, according to the California fire agency, making it one of the largest fires in the state's history.
No fatalities have been reported so far, and firefighters have benefited from a slight drop in temperatures over the weekend that has allowed them to make some progress on the fire, with the fire now 12 percent contained.
Nearly 4,900 firefighters have been deployed, with 33 helicopters, 400 fire engines and several aircraft to tackle the blazes.
More than 26,000 residents were ordered to evacuate on Monday afternoon, as authorities called for heightened vigilance due to the heightened fire risk.
“This fire is very volatile and unpredictable,” Tehama County Sheriff Dave Kain said at a news conference Monday.
“We have seen many places that we thought were safe to live, burning again,” he added.
The fire spread during the first 48 hours at the speed of a person walking, and has produced fire tornadoes and mushroom clouds of smoke. (ns/lt)
