Park Fire near Chico explodes in size, forces evacuations in California's Butte and Tehama counties

CHICO — Evacuations for the Park Fire in California's Butte County have been extended to neighboring Tehama County.

On Wednesday, Cal Fire said the Park Fire ignited in the Upper Bidwell Park area near Chico. The fire has burned 45,549 acres to the north of the park and containment was at 3% containment as of early Thursday morning.

According to Cal Fire, the Park Fire ignited just before 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Evacuation orders and shelters

Mandatory evacuations first went into place in Butte County. They were ordered for zones BUT-CNE 317-318, BUT-COH 250-253, 312, 313, BUT-FR 260-262, 265-266, 268-269, and 271. These zones stretch from the west side of the park up north to the Cohasset and Forest Ranch areas and to the west and north side of Chico Regional Airport.

Thursday morning, an evacuation order has also been given out for zone 272 in Forest Ranch.

Evacuation warnings in Butte County are for zones 273, 314, 311, 315, and 316 on the west side of the airport.

For Tehama County, mandatory evacuations were later added for zones 736, 854, 856, 858, 882 A and 882 B.

Tehama evacuation warnings were issued for zones 726, 728, 732, 734 and 852.

An evacuation shelter was set up at Neighborhood Church at 2801 Notre Dame Blvd. in Chico. A shelter for small animals is operating at 2279 Del Oro, in Oroville. Large animals can be taken to Camelot Equestrian Park at 1985 Clark Rd. in Oroville.

Butte County residents can view a live evacuation map here . Tehama County residents can view a live evacuation map here .

In Butte County, Cohasset Road was closed at Rock Creek, and Upper Park Road was closed at Wildwood, Cal Fire said.

Butte County's recent wildfires

Butte County has had a very busy fire season this summer. The Thomspon Fire in the Oroville area recently scorched more than 3,700 acres, forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, and destroyed dozens of structures, including houses.

The day after the Thompson Fire started, the Grubbs Fire just south of that in Palermo was much smaller but also forced evacuations.

In mid-July, the Railbridge Fire , just south of Palermo, burned 130 acres, forced evacuations, destroyed or damaged several structures and injured at least one person.

Back in June, the Apache Fire , which burned in the same general area near Oroville and Palermo, scorched nearly 700 acres and forced its own round of evacuations.

Nearly two weeks before the Apache Fire, the Junes Fire burned nearly 1,100 acres in Palermo and also forced people from their homes.