CALIFORNIA: Crews in Northern California continued fighting the massive wildfire of the year in the western US state, which has left over 130 structures completely destroyed and thousands of locals evacuated.
The Park Fire, which started yesterday near Chico, north of California’s capital city Sacramento, had quickly expanded to engulf more than 164,000 acres as of Friday morning, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
The fire has completely destroyed 134 compounds and threatens 4,200 more, with only 3 % contained by Friday, local officials said.
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The fire’s cause has been traced to an act of burning. Officials have apprehended a 42-year-old man, named Ronnie Dean Stout II, on suspicion of deliberately starting the fire. However, the motive behind this alleged action still remains unclear. The fast spread of the Park Fire has forced massive evacuations across the region. Local authorities said that around 4,000 people were ordered to leave, including 400 from Chico itself.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said that by early Thursday, about3,500 people had already been displaced from their houses.
