Man arrested in California wildfire that forced thousands to evacuate

By Rich McKay

(Reuters) -A man was arrested on Thursday, on suspicion of starting a fire that forced thousands to flee their homes overnight in a fast-moving fire in Northern California, a prosecutor said.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in a statement that the man, whose name was not released, was jailed without bond on a Butte County judge's warrant after he was identified as the person seen pushing a flaming car into a gully on Wednesday afternoon.

The vehicle fire spread flames that caused the Park Fire, which exploded overnight from about 1,400 acres (567 hectares) on Wednesday near Chico, California, to about 45,500 acres on Thursday in California's Central Valley about 80 miles (130 km)north of the state capital Sacramento.

Few details were immediately available. The 42-year-old suspect was detained by arson investigators with the state California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, along with police.

His arraignment is set for Monday, according to Ramsey, who did not specify what charges the man might face. A spokesperson for the Butte County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for more details.

The Park Fire was only 3 percent contained on Thursday morning, said Cal Fire spokesperson Dan Collins. No injuries were reported.

More than 4,000 people were evacuated in Butte County and the city of Chico, said Megan McMann, a spokesperson for the Butte County Sheriff's Office.

The largest fire now burning in the United States, Oregon's Durkee Fire, has burned at least 240,000 acres, threatened multiple small towns, scorched ranch land and killed cattle by the hundreds, local media reported.

High winds, with gusts of 60 miles mph (97 kph) along with lightning strikes on Wednesday and overnight could fan the flames, said Marc Chenard, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

The fire, about 100 miles northwest of Boise, Idaho, was zero percent contained on Thursday morning. More wind was forecast and lightning possible.

"There is zero percent chance of rain in the forecast for the region," Chenard said.

Smoke from fires in western Canada and the Pacific Northwest is blamed for hazy skies and unhealthy air from the Rocky Mountains to Chicago, weather reports said. Denver had the worst air quality in the U.S. and ranked the 22nd worst in the world, according to IQAir, a group that tracks air pollution across the globe.

The air could be clearing later on Thursday as a high pressure ridge rolls in bringing clearer skies, according to weather reports.

Scientists and environmental advocates have long called for global leaders to phase out and end the reliance on fossil fuels to prevent catastrophic effects of climate change, including worsening wildfires.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Donna Bryson, Aurora Ellis and Sandra Maler)