California’s largest wildfire to date this year and seventh largest in state history grew overnight while containment on the Park Fire blaze that has burned through two counties remained unchanged.
Containment remains at 12%.
The fire continues to burn hottest on the east side in the Butte Meadows area in Butte County. Crews spent much of Sunday battling two spot fires, each about 100 acres, in that area. Officials said Monday that firefighters did a good job overnight getting dozer and hand lines around the two spot fires.
Fire activity also is heating up along the fire’s west side east of the town of Dairyville in Tehama County.
Assessment teams continue to be on the ground surveying and confirming the damage. A report Monday by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection listed 100 destroyed structures. The number of damaged structures was listed at 5.
Meanwhile, the Chico man accused of starting the fire by pushing a burning car into a gully in Upper Bidwell Park will be arraigned Monday afternoon in Butte County Superior Court.
Ronnie Stout was arrested early Thursday morning by Cal Fire arson and district attorney investigators in Butte County.
Readers, scroll down for the latest updates on Monday, July 29.
9:00 a.m.: Weather expected to challenge firefighters on Monday
The weather over the weekend helped crews grow containment lines around the Park Fire.
But at a morning briefing on Monday, firefighters were told that the weather will change later Monday, which has the potential of spurring more fire activity.
More: Park Fire reminder of changing climate’s impact on California
Southwest winds are expected to gust stronger in the afternoon, with gusts expected to exceed 20 miles per hour.
Firefighters also were reminded that the fire is being driven by heavy vegetation, especially on the west side where there is an abundance of grass like there hasn’t been seen for years. Also, there is lava rock on the fire’s west side, which makes it difficult to put down hose lines and cut fire lines with bulldozers.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Park Fire near Shasta County: Blaze grows to nearly 370K acres
