Destructive Northern California Wildfire Grows Amid Heat and Low Humidity

The destructive Park fire in Northern California continued to grow Aug. 8, fueled by hot weather and low humidity, as thousands of firefighters held containment at 34 percent. California’s largest current fire grew to 666 square miles Thursday morning, about 4 square miles in 24 hours, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The arson-sparked fire started July 24 in a Chico city park and has grown steadily mostly in Butte and Tehama counties and had destroyed 636 homes and other buildings by Thursday afternoon. Another 49 structures were damaged, and 2,350 were still threatened by the blaze. “The Park fire remained active overnight due to poor humidity recovery, exhibiting uphill runs and intense fire behavior,” Cal Fire reported....