The acreage burned by the Park Fire increased Tuesday afternoon to 385,065 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Cal Fire officials noted that the fire continued to prove difficult to contain, while weather conditions remained hot and dry.
"The fire continues to burn very actively. With the steep terrain, wind activity and many inaccessible areas, the fire is making uphill runs and spot fires continue to occur. Critically low fuel moistures and high winds have caused difficulty in suppressing the fire spread," Cal Fire said Tuesday afternoon.
The bulk of the fire burned in Tehama County, with 330,515 acres already torched, while 53,104 acres burned in Butte County, Cal Fire said. There were 5,582 people assigned to the blaze as of Tuesday afternoon, the agency said.
The Park Fire continued to grow overnight from Monday, reaching 383,619 acres as of Tuesday morning, moving it up to the fifth-largest wildfire in state history.
The fire grew a little more than 10,000 acres overnight, but containment of the blaze remained at 14%, steady from Monday evening, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The Park Fire started July 24 in Upper Bidwell Park in Chico and rapidly spread north, racing through Tehama County, before it was stopped just shy of the Shasta County line. Thousands of people have been evacuated ahead of the blaze.
Much of Shingletown and Manton, on the southern border of Shasta County, remain evacuated.
While the fire started in Butte County, most of the acreage burned was in Tehama County to the north, according to Cal Fire. As of Monday night, 320,306 acres had burned in Tehama County.
Chico resident Ronnie Dean Stout II has been charged with starting the blaze. He was in court Monday in Butte County for arraignment, but he did not enter a plea. He is scheduled to return to Butte County Superior Court again Thursday.
While the fire has destroyed 165 structures, as of Monday night there have been no reported deaths and no one has been seriously injured, according to Cal Fire.
Also Monday night, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office has increased fire evacuation orders in six alert zones in the Millville, Cottonwood, Shingletown and Manton areas due to increased Park Fire activity.
Evacuation warnings were also issued for six zones Cottonwood, Shingletown and Millville, according to the sheriff's office.
Crews continue to deal with the weather Tuesday as the fire remains active in several areas of the blaze. The temperature Tuesday is expected to reach 95 degrees, but stronger breezes out of the southwest with gusts up to 25 mph are expected throughout the day, according to fire agencies.
Readers, scroll down for updates as they are posted for Tuesday, July 30.
The number of structures destroyed by the Park Fire now totals 192, according to the latest report released by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. That's up from 165 structures reported by the agency on Monday night.A total of 19 structures have been reported damaged by the wildfire the agency said, up from 15 on Monday.
Damage inspection teams have completed just over half of their inspections within the current fire perimeter, Cal Fire said. Information is expected to remain fluid as the agency's assessment teams continue to be on the ground surveying and confirming damage from the wildfire, which has roared through Butte and Tehama counties.
The Park Fire has burned 373,357 acres since the arson-caused blaze ignited near Chico on July 24. "The perimeter of the Park Fire is 260 miles, which means it has burned more than three times the surface area of Lake Tahoe," Cal Fire said.
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This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Park Fire update: Latest tally by Cal Fire of structures destroyed, damaged by the blaze
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