At about 3 PM on 7/24/24 and under red flag conditions, the Park Fire started in Upper Bidwell Park by an alleged arsonist and had a rapid Rate of Spread (ROS) of approximately 5,000 acres per hour during the first 12 hours. The fire burned in a roughly south-to-north direction through terrain which made access and fire suppression very difficult, and presented extreme conditions for firefighting aircraft. As of this writing, approximately 390,000 acres burned, 560+ structures destroyed and the event is 54% contained. To put this acreage in perspective, the entire city of San Francisco is approximately 30,000 acres, so the Park Fire consumed more than 13 times the city of San Francisco.
Pyro-Cumulus cloud from the Park Fire
It's very important to remember that as fires are burning across the state, that reduces staffing levels available to assist with new fires in your area.
Wildfire Mitigation Advisors was allowed with permission into the mandatory evacuation zones to check on specific addresses that may need to be assessed for structure protection and to check on family members' homes. Throughout the evacuation zone homes and property were randomly damaged or destroyed while across the street or next door, homes survived. Standard principles of defensible space and home hardening continue to emerge as pivotal to home survival.
Burned home near Forest Ranch
If a resident is under an evacuation WARNING, they may have several hours or perhaps a couple of days before it switches to an ORDER. The WARNING stage is a good time to remove all combustibles from the first 5 feet of the home. We also recommend looking at your home and property through the eyes of an approaching ember storm and address any combustible materials that can be quickly relocated.
The Park Fire is a massive conflagration and hopefully some positives will come from it, like people paying attention to Fire Weather, utilizing Watch Duty, and effectively preparing for wildfire when they receive warnings. Our collective goal is to reduce the wildfire threat to lives, property, and the environment.
Burned classic cars from the Park Fire
Stuart Mitchell,
Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist, NFPA