Northern California wildfire torches homes; thousands evacuate

In less than 24 hours, the Thompson Fire has grown from around 15 acres to a massive 3,000 acres near Oroville, prompting Governor Newsom to declare a state of emergency in Butte County.

Some 13,000 residents have been ordered to leave their homes and thousands more are on standby to leave as CAL FIRE and other fire agencies work to slow and contain the destructive fire.

On Tuesday, FOX40.COM reporters at the Thompson Fire recorded video of at least three homes fully engulfed in flames.

“California is using every available tool to tackle this fire & will continue to support impacted communities,” the governor’s office wrote in an X (Twitter) post on Wednesday morning.

As the fire continued to spread along the Feather River towards Oroville Dam and Lake Oroville, CAL FIRE Incident Management Team 6 was assigned and coordinated all resources to fight the blaze.

As of Wednesday morning, the fire had burned 3,002 acres with no containment.

Over 3,000 PG&E customers in the fire area are without power, including the community of Berry Creek, which has not shown signs of being directly impacted by the fire.

More than 500 personnel responded to the fire, along with dozens of heavy ground vehicles, such as dozers and tankers, and numerous aerial firefighting apparatus.

The fire’s cause is being investigated. Red flag warnings for critical fire weather conditions, including gusty northerly winds and low humidity levels, were in effect when it erupted.

The warnings were expected to remain in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday, said Garret Sjolund, the Butte County unit chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“The conditions out there that are in our county this summer are much different than we’ve experienced the last two summers,” Sjolund said in an online briefing. “The fuels are very dense, brush is dry. And as you can see, any wind will, move a fire out very quickly.”

More high temperatures above 100 degrees (37.8 Celsius) were forecast Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. Hot conditions were expected to continue into next week.

Authorities warned of full legal consequences for any illegal use of fireworks during the Fourth of July holiday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.