Park Fire explodes in California to 120,000 acres as residents near Chico escape flames

A Northern California blaze exploded Thursday to more than 120,000 acres across two counties — quickly becoming the largest wildfire in the state this year — forcing thousands to evacuate. Investigators arrested a suspected arsonist who allegedly pushed a burning car down a gully in a park outside of Chico, Butte County authorities said.

Firefighters have contained just 3% of the 120,312-acre (188 square miles) blaze, dubbed the Park Fire, burning across Butte and Tehama counties after sparks ignited Wednesday in the open spaces of Upper Bidwell Park on the outskirts of Chico.

The wildfire, recorded by Cal Fire at just 6,465 acres around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, jumped overnight to 45,000 acres Thursday morning and to 71,000 acres by midday.

The suspect in the arson, who was arrested on a warrant issued Thursday, pushed a car down a gully near Alligator Hole, a swimming hole at the park, shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said. The vehicle fell about 60 feet and burned completely, prosecutors said. Authorities said on Thursday afternoon identified the suspect as 42-year-old Ronnie Stout, of Chico.

Ramsey in a Thursday afternoon news conference, streamed live on social media, said the vehicle Stout allegedly pushed down the gully was his mother’s.

“It is maddening that we’re here again, and it is particularly maddening that this particular fire was caused by an individual,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said in the news conference.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office ordered the evacuation of areas around Musty Buck Ridge as wind spurred flames toward Cohasset, a community of 900 residents. By Thursday afternoon, the wildfire spread north to Campbellville, prompting the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office to call for mandatory evacuations in the area.

Honea on Thursday urged Butte County residents to know their evacuation zones by heart, and to be ready to evacuate on a moment’s notice.

“Last night, while I was up in Cohasset with my staff, I ran across numerous people who were not prepared to go,” he said. “In three cases, we ran across vehicles completely out of gas.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Thursday morning news release more than 3,500 people were uprooted from their homes; evacuation orders expanded substantially throughout the day.

Firefighters, loggers and residents acted quickly to dodge the flames as the fire made Cohasset Road impassable. Authorities led a group of 20 vehicles uphill toward Campbellville to a helipad. Another 80 vehicles were guided by trucks on small logging roads in Sierra Pacific Industries forest lands, according to radio dispatches reviewed Wednesday night by The Sacramento Bee.

Paradise gets evacuation warning

At 4:40 p.m. Thursday, officials in the town of Paradise announced that sheriff’s officials issued an evacuation warning for Paradise fire zones 1, 4 and 9; most of those zones are west of Skyway, on the northwestern end of town.

Officials said there were no current mandatory evacuation orders for the town.

Paradise was site of the 2018 Camp Fire, California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire, which burned 90,000 acres in its first 24 hours. The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed more than 18,000 homes and other buildings.

Ultimately firefighters stopped the decimation at more than 150,000 acres.

‘Everyone was just really helpful, looking out for each other’

Nikko Shelton and his family live on Cohasset Road and were told to go by 6 p.m. He and his wife escaped in two cars, his with the dog, Luther, the other driven by Melissa with two cats in tow. They were among the 40 evacuees in a caravan of 20 vehicles trying to dodge the flames while navigating treacherously narrow unpaved roads.

Shelton said dust clouded his view and others struggled to stay on the road. One vehicle was pulled out after slipping into a ditch, another car was abandoned outright, he said.

Despite the tribulations, Shelton said he believed everyone made it out OK.

He said the family got their first evacuation notice about 5:30 p.m. and were told to leave a half-hour later. By 7:30 p.m., the family and 10 other cars reached the welcome sign at the entrance to Cohasset only to be told to turn around and get out through the logging roads.

A “very helpful gentleman” from the logging company drove past the caravan, alerting them that the road had been cleared and gates that were closed had been opened. A second Sierra Pacific worker led them to the helipad above the town and “took a leadership role to get everyone together,” instructed people how to organize vehicles. They formed a convoy to get out. If any vehicle had trouble, they were told to honk so they could move to the front of the pack.

Six miles up the narrow road, the convoy stopped at a logging encampment to regroup. At that point, they the evacuees heard more homes were being told to get out, Shelton said.

The convoy reached Highway 32 around 9 p.m. and headed north toward Chester. He said the loggers made the difference in saving lives.

“Honestly, for the most part, everyone was just really helpful, looking out for each other,” he said. “You know, a couple vehicles didn’t have very much gasoline and they were all willing to offer up what they had.”

Now the Sheltons await the fate of their home, which they believed was still standing.

“It looks like the fire line that was established at Sigler Road is about two miles below my house, so hopefully we’re all good,” he said Thursday.

A spokesperson for SPI Industries confirmed in a statement that employees and contractors helped Cohasset-area residents evacuate.

DA speaks on suspect’s arrest

Ramsey, the Butte County district attorney, said in Thursday’s news conference that Cal Fire arson investigators and District Attorney’s Office investigators arrested Stout at his residence at a Chico mobile home park around 2 a.m. that morning. The investigators “demanded by loudspeakers” that Stout exit the home with his hands up, he said.

He was booked into the Butte County Jail, where he will stay until he is arraigned in court on Monday on a count of arson, Ramsey said.

A witness in the area saw Stout acting “somewhat strange,” according to Ramsey. The witness reportedly saw a fire start underneath Stout’s car, in response to which he “(did) nothing other than watching the fire.”

Ramsey said the witness saw Stout enter the car, do something inside, exit the car and finally push it into the gully. The district attorney identified the vehicle involved as Stout’s mother’s vehicle.

According to Ramsey, Stout has multiple prior convictions on his record.

Stay or go?

Late Thursday afternoon, the Ayon family had stopped on Highway 32 midway between their home in Forest Ranch and Chico.

The family watched the fire consume Upper Bidwell Park and argued on which direction to head.

“Once we pass that barrier there’s no going back home for a while,” said Kyle Ayon, referencing the barricade on Highway 32.

They had spent the last 24 hours watching the smoke, packing their car with personal belongings and keeping up to date with the evacuation warnings. All the while, they went back and forth on whether to evacuate.

As the smoke inched closer to Highway 32, Alan Ayon, 79, tried to again convince his son Kyle and granddaughter Morgan May that they should head back to Forest Ranch.

“It wouldn’t hurt us if we went back, did one final review, before heading out,” Alan told them.

“Sorry gramps, we have to err on the side of caution,” May replied.

Kyle felt conflicted on the decision, saying he leaned toward prioritizing the safety of his daughter.

After nearly a half hour of disagreeing, the family was swayed by a Cal Fire official who told them the fire was headed in their direction and would reach them in 30 minutes.

“That’s the final verdict,” Kyle said.

Park Fire burning in steep, inaccessible terrain

The rapid spread of the blaze was due in part to the fire burrowing into heavily inaccessible parts, said Capt. Dan Collins, a spokesman for Cal Fire and Butte County Fire Department. Winds billowed up to 20 mph, with gusts reaching 23 mph, in Upper Bidwell Park about 8 p.m. Wednesday amid an imminent red flag warning, according to the National Weather Service.

Deploying ground resources to those heavily wooded parts proved “challenging” especially as flames charred regions with little to no fire history, Collins said. The vegetation provided lots of fuel for embers to ignite, especially as high temperatures raged, he said. Collins didn’t have a total number of structures that have burned.

A red flag warning — issued when a combination of warm temperatures, low humidity and strong winds combine for dangerous conditions — was expected to last from 1 p.m. Thursday until 11 p.m. Friday in Butte and Tehama counties.

Smoke drifted through trees and burned structures around Wells Island and Cohasset roads. Small flames still sputtered Thursday morning, destroying some structures.

Firefighters saved Odyssey Winery & Vineyards, 6237 Cohasset Road, but charred cars and homes were more common while traversing up Cohasset Road.

All that remained of a family-owned reptile store, Killer Clutches, 44 Rock Creed Road, were darkened pillars and a small frog leaping through blackened containers and cages.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state secured a federal grant to provide financial aid by allowing “local, state and tribal agencies responding to the fire to apply for 75-percent reimbursement of their eligible fire suppression costs,” according to a news release.

Gusts could reach 21 mph Thursday in Chico, with an estimated high of 102 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Cameras operated by PG&E in the AlertCalifornia wildfire surveillance network showed flames devouring a communications tower along Richardson Springs Road on Wednesday as flames raced through river canyons and over ridges. The transmission cut out a few moments later.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office placed the following zones were under evacuation orders: 120, 149, 150-A, 250-253, 260, 261, 262, 265-271, 273 311, 312, 317 and 318. It includes areas of Forest Ranch, Cohasset and Carpenter ridges. The area also includes the Chico Municipal Airport.

The following zones were under evacuation warnings in Butte County: 244, 252, 253, 263, 264, 282, 286, 314, 315, 316, 361 and 363.

The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office ordered residents in zones 694-B, 726, 732, 734, 736, 852, 854, 856, 858, 882, 882-A and 882-B to leave the area. Residents in zones 694-A, 720, 726, 728, 732, 734, 840, 850-A and 852 were under an evacuation warning.

An evacuation center was set up at Neighborhood Church, 2801 Notre Dame Blvd. in Chico. Small animals may be taken to a shelter at 2279 Del Oro Ave., in Oroville and large animals can be brought to safety at Camelot Equestrian Park, 1985 Clark Road in Oroville.

The California Highway Patrol’s office in Susanville closed Highway 32 at Highway 36 due to the fire with no estimated time of reopening. More resources from around Northern California expected to descend on the region to douse flames, according to Cal Fire.

The cause is under investigation, Cal Fire said.

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