According to a press release from the Butte County District Attorney’s Office, the individual was seen pushing a car that was on fire near Alligator Hole. It reportedly went down an embankment, became engulfed in flames and started the fire.
A person nearby saw the incident, took photos of the man, and reported the incident to law enforcement. They then posted the photos and their experience on social media, where the footage has been circulated widely.
The press release said the man’s name will be released later this afternoon. A warrant was issued by a local judge, and the man was arrested and booked into the Butte County Jail.
The DA’s office says the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is being asked to call Cal Fire Investigations at 530-538-7888.
We are no longer updating this section of the article. Please refer to the latest information above.
Last updated at 10:45 a.m.
4,000 remainevacuatedfrom the Park Fire in Butte County, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, which has been issuing evacuations due to the fire through the night
The Tehama County Sheriff's Office is also continuing to issue newevacuationsthis morning due to the fire.
The fire quickly exploded yesterday afternoon, growing to 45,550 acres by this morning. It's 3% contained, according to the latest update fromCal Fire.
Widespread evacuations remain in place for the communities of Cohasset and Forest Ranch, which are both atvery high risk of wildfireand have been top of mind for officials for years.
Many residents in Chico were up most of the night, as the Sheriff’s Office issued evacuations for parts of the city. The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office also issued severalevacuationsfor areas near the Butte County line.
Hot, dry, windy conditions have led to the quick growth of the fire, but Dan Collins, fire captain and public information officer with Cal Fire and the Butte County Fire Department said it also moved into areas that have seen little fire in recent years. He said that was a significant factor to the fire’s growth.
He said one of the biggest challenges for firefighters has been the intense heat. Another is the accessibility of certain areas of the fire.
“There's not a lot of road systems, or areas to get in and get direct with that,” he said “So we're utilizing reconnaissance planes and bulldozers to kind of open up from some roads, containment lines, so we can get some resources in there.”
Collins said the “whole area of the fire” is of concern today. He said fire personnel continue to be focused on evacuations and structure defense while building direct containment lines.
“Once resources arrived, because again, are en route from all over to come support the operations, they will be inserted into the areas of the most critical need,” he said.
With Cohasset only having one main road out of the fire, Collins said a significant emphasis was placed on evacuations and structural defense within the community.
Collins says that Sierra Pacific Industries provided assistance to residents.
“They were able to open up some of their private roads and assist in the evacuations, kind of getting the resources out, alternatively out of Cohasset,” Collins said. “They were tremendous help to us. They're loggers and their personnel assisted tremendously with getting folks kind of out the back way through their land.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is providing fire management assistance for the Park Fire. California submitted the request when the fire was around 6,000 acres. At that time, the fire was threatening over 1,000 homes in the Cohasset and Richardson Springs area.
FEMA reports 15 other large fires burning uncontrolled in California. The assistance will cover up to 75% of eligible firefighting costs.
Last updated on July 24 at 9:45 p.m.
We are no longer updating this section of the article. Please refer to the latest information above.
Widespreadevacuationsare in place due to a fire that started in Upper Bidwell Park in Chico this afternoon. The fire currently stands at more than 1,500 acres, according toCal Fire.
The entire community of Cohasset is currently under an evacuation order.
Most of Forest Ranch is under an evacuation warning. Both are atvery high risk of wildfireand have been top of mind for officials for years.
Another concern Cohasset is it only hasone main roadto get in and out.
In alive YouTube video the fire, Zeke Lunder, a North State fire analyst and founder ofThe Lookout, said there’s likely still a lot of in the community.
“The open question is whether or not they'll be able to get down out of there. Cohasset has no secondary access that's paved. There's dirt logging roads to go out the top and make their way back to Highway 32 eventually, but there's no secondary paved access roads out of Cohasset,” Lunder said.
Cohasset was one of the first areas to have evaluations issued. Rick Carhart, public information officer for Cal Fire and the Butte County Fire Department told NSPR a little after 6 p.m. that at the point the fire wasn’t near Cohasset, but it was moving in that direction.
“We're just trying to make sure that we give everybody as much advance warning as we can … so that aren't having to just really like panic when they finally are told [they] have to leave,” Carhart said. “We're trying to get it done nice and early.”
Several evacuation zones in the Upper Bidwell Park area of Chico are also under an order, as well as several zones inTehama County.
Northbound traffic along Eaton and Cohasset roads has been shut down due to the ongoing incident. Officials ask that residents avoid the area if possible.
Cal Fire and the Chico Fire Department are unified command on the fire. The Butte County Sheriff’s Office is issuing evacuations.
Carhart said the agency has had significant resources on the fire since this afternoon, including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, fire engines and water tenders. Aircraft have been making retardant and water drops on the fire.
“The helicopters have a pretty quick turnaround because they're able to just come right over the ridge and down and get water out of Horseshoe Lake in Upper Bidwell Park,” Carhart said.
He said conditions have been windy with a significant amount of steady wind coming from the south.
“Any kind of a wind on fire, that's one of the biggest drivers of the movement and the growth and the spread of a wildland fire is when the wind gets on it,” Carhart said.
Record-breaking hot weather this month has caused dangerously dry conditions. Carhart said this can cause quick changes in the fire’s direction.
“It’s just so dry that pretty much everything that a spark touches is catching on fire right now,” Carhart said.
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