Northern California's Park Fire , located in Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama counties about 100 miles northwest of Reno-Sparks, had consumed more than 391,000 acres as of Thursday morning and was listed at 18% containment. Smoke began pouring into the Truckee Meadows on Tuesday, reducing air quality to a rating of "unhealthy for sensitive groups."
Authorities said the wildfire was caused by a man who pushed a flaming car down an embankment near Chico . The fire was listed as the largest of more than 100 wildfires burning in the United States.
How big is an acre? A football field is relatively close — about 1 ⅓ acres. So how big is 385,000 acres? It's more than three times the surface area of Lake Tahoe (122,000 acres) and more than four times the combined acreage of Reno-Sparks (91,000 acres).
Here's a look at noteworthy fires throughout the region, and how they compare to well-known landmarks.
More than 200 firefighters have been battling this blaze in northern Washoe County, believed to have been caused by lightning or another natural cause. It was listed at 19% containment as of the most recent update on Wednesday.
With 15,238 acres consumed as of Tuesday afternoon, it's approaching the total area of Sparks (23,000 acres).
The most destructive fire in 19th-century Reno was sparked by a stovepipe onto a pile of wood, and then stiff March winds drove it into a massive fire that destroyed the young city's business district — "as though all of Reno's sins were being wiped out by a fiery atonement," wrote the Reno Evening Gazette.
The fire burned 50 acres in all — roughly equal to the area covered by Idlewild Park (49 acres).
With one fatality tied to the fire and 25 structures destroyed, the 2011 blaze was dubbed the largest "urban wildland fire" in Reno's history by state archivist Guy Rocha.
It consumed approximately 1,950 acres — considerably larger than the footprint of the Reno-Tahoe International Airport (1,450 acres).
An illegal campfire resulted in a wildland blaze that destroyed 242 homes and 67 commercial buildings in El Dorado County.
The fire burned for nine days over 3,100 acres, about 11 times the size of main campus of the University of Nevada, Reno.
About two months after the Caughlin Fire, another wildfire burned through 3,200 acres in Washoe Valley, destroying 29 structures and causing one death. It started when fireplace ashes were improperly disposed outside.
The size of the blaze was even more than the massive 2,864 acres covered by the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center's Gigafactory 1.
A wildfire ravaged hillsides and shut down Interstate 80 between Reno and Truckee, burning for two weeks in the last half of June. The blaze destroyed a cabin and a mobile home but resulted in no fatalities.
Overall, it consumed 14,500 acres — or about three-fourths of the area enclosed by McCarran Boulevard (21,000 acres).
Six months after the 1960 Winter Olympics, a fire tore through an area about 10 miles to the north of the site, knocking out power to Reno for four days. The fire was believed to be caused by road crews building the new Interstate 80.
It ultimately burned 45,000 acres around Truckee, approximately twice the amount of land enclosed by McCarran Boulevard (21,000 acres).
The most destructive wildfire in California history to date, the Camp Fire killed 85 and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures in Butte County, leveling the town of Paradise and several other communities.
At 153,336 acres, the fire's destruction burned an area about the size of Storey County (169,000 acres).
The largest wildfire in Nevada history destroyed just one building but consumed 439,230 acres of grazing land and habitat for sage grouse, bighorn sheep, elk and mule deer. The fire, located within Humboldt and Elko counties, burned for 17 days.
The area burned was larger than Carson City (92,000 acres) and Storey County (169,000 acres) combined, and just shy of the area of Douglas County (454,000 acres).
A target shooter in El Dorado County sparked a massive wildfire that burned more than 1,000 structures, including two-thirds of Grizzly Flats, and came within five miles of South Lake Tahoe.
Ultimately, 221,835 acres were consumed over a two-month stretch, about twice the surface area of Pyramid Lake (112,000 acres).
California's largest-ever wildfire was sparked by lightning and burned between Aug. 16 and Nov. 12 across six counties northwest of Sacramento. Smoke poured into northwestern Nevada for nearly three months.
At 1,032,648 acres, it burned an area larger than the state of Rhode Island (989,000 acres).
Brett McGinness is the engagement editor for the Reno Gazette Journal. He's also the writer of The Reno Memo — a free newsletter about news in the Biggest Little City. Subscribe to the newsletter right here . Consider supporting the Reno Gazette Journal , too.
This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: How big is the 2024 Park Fire in California? Here's some perspective
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