Arson-sparked Park Fire is now California’s fifth-largest wildfire
By Taylor Romine and Susannah Cullinane, CNN
(CNN) — California’s Park Fire is now the fifth-largest wildfire in the state’s history, and a man accused of starting the destructive flames appeared in court Monday. At the same time, dozens of other fires continue to rage in the Western United States and Canada and thousands have been forced to evacuate. Here’s the latest:
• Park Fire climbs California’s record books: The fire, which began July 24, is now the fifth-largest wildfire in California history, having burned more than 386,000 acres, or 603 square miles, according to Cal Fire. “This region, both Butte and Tehama, over the course of time in California, has had four of the largest 10 fires known in history,” Cal Fire Incident Commander Billy See told a news conference Monday. As of Tuesday evening, it was 18% contained and had destroyed at least 192 structures and damaged 19 others across two of the affected counties. Cal Fire officials said more than 5,500 firefighters, including aerial and ground crews, had been working to quell the flames.
• Man accused of igniting California’s Park Fire charged: Ronnie Dean Stout II has been charged with arson on suspicion of starting the Park Fire last week, a felony complaint filed Monday shows. A court document – similar to what authorities previously said – alleges in part that a witness saw him pushing a burning car down a 60-foot embankment. Stout is claiming he did not push the car, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said at a news conference. Stout didn’t enter a plea during a court appearance Monday, but he was denied bail, and his arraignment was continued to Thursday, Ramsey said. More charges could be added, he said.
• California resident once again loses home to fire: Standing in the charred remains of his house, Butte County resident Rick Pero told CNN affiliate KHSL the Park Fire was the second California wildfire to destroy his home. Pero and his wife moved to Forest Ranch after losing another property to 2018’s deadly Camp Fire. This time, Pero and his wife were away when they got an evacuation warning and told their house sitter to pack the car and leave, he told KHSL. “We said don’t wait for the order stage, go ahead and load up. And, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get our shy cat out because it hides from people, so he got our other cat and loaded the car and was able to easily and successfully evacuate,” Pero said. He and his wife could still remain in Butte County, he said, but were also looking further afield. “It’s after two times, you know, live and learn,” he told KHSL. “This one was a harder one because of losing our little cat.”
• Active wildfires in the US: Firefighters are dealing with 89 large active wildfires in the United States as of Tuesday– most of which were in the West, including 31 in Oregon and 10 in California and Idaho, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Together, the active fires cover more than 2 million acres.
The agency stressed the need to have firefighters and firefighting resources available in areas where there was a high likelihood of fire breaking out due to the importance of an “initial attack” on new fires. “The vast majority of fire starts are contained at small sizes within 24 hours of their discovery,” it said.
As the blazes continue, gusty winds could bring more fire concerns and the heat is expected to build across the West throughout this week, becoming more substantial by Friday and lingering into next week. Temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above normal are expected across parts of the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Rockies, and daily high temperature records could be tied or broken, especially across the Pacific Northwest, over the weekend.
These fires have generated smoke that has drifted hundreds of miles and prompted air quality alerts across parts of California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. More alerts could be issued Tuesday.
• Alberta’s Jasper Wildfire Complex remains ‘out of control’: In Canada, the Jasper Wildfire Complex is still burning in the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies. The Jasper National Park remained closed to the public and under an evacuation warning, officials in Alberta said Monday afternoon. Around 17,000 people have evacuated, officials noted. “While the wildfire remains classified as out of control, no significant growth has been reported as of this morning,” the municipality of Jasper said Monday afternoon, noting it is trying to plan bus tours for evacuated residents to see the damage once the area is deemed safe. The Jasper Wildfire Complex has scorched nearly 80,000 acres, Alberta Wildfire said.
• Temperatures to rise this week amid Oregon wildfire: Oregon’s largest wildfire, the Durkee Fire, was 51% contained Tuesday morning after scorching more than 293,000 acres, according to InciWeb. It started July 17 near the Oregon-Idaho state line due to lightning, InciWeb states. Scattered showers from a cold front moved through the region Monday into early Tuesday, but no rainfall is expected the rest of the week and temperatures are expected to rise to triple digits by the weekend, which could impair firefighting efforts.
• Evacuations ordered in Colorado: Thousands of evacuation orders have been issued after a wildfire broke out on Alexander Mountain near Loveland, Colorado, Monday, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. Smoke was reported west of Silverdale Ranch in the late morning and responders discovered a wildfire they have been fighting since, officials said at a news conference. Mandatory evacuation notices were sent to 2,635 devices registered to receive alerts in the area and voluntary notices were sent to another 1,491 devices. The sheriff’s office said it was unclear how many people the notices impacted and deputies were also going door-to-door to notify residents. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire has burned through 1820 acres and is 0% contained, according to Inciweb.
‘This didn’t have to happen,’ Butte County DA says
Stout, the suspect in California’s Park Fire, has been charged with arson of an inhabited structure or property, with the aggravating factors of multiple structures burning and an allegation Stout violated California’s three-strikes felony law, the complaint says. In California, each conviction for a violent or serious felony is counted as a “strike,” and people receive significantly longer prison sentences if convicted of a third felony.
In a news conference Monday, Ramsey, the Butte County district attorney, detailed what he said were some of the events of July 24, the day the Park Fire began.
That afternoon, Stout pulled his car over on the side of a dirt road and his vehicle got stuck in tall grass, Ramsey said. When Stout revved his engine to try to get out, a fire started, he said.
A witness saw Stout next to the fire coming out of the front of his car, but said he did not try and stop it, according to a statement of facts arguing against bail for Stout. The witness saw Stout get in and out of the car, and then said he pushed the burning car down a 60-foot embankment, where the fire exploded, the statement of facts says.
Stout is “admitting up to a point, but is saying he did not push his car,” Ramsey said.
Shortly before the incident, Stout was seen drinking at a nearby swimming hole and witnesses said he “seemed to be highly intoxicated,” Ramsey said. Another witness said they saw him driving “extraordinarily recklessly” from the direction of the swimming hole to where the fire started, he continued.
“This didn’t have to happen,” Ramsey said.
When Stout was arrested early the next morning, almost 11 hours after the fire started, alcohol was found in his system above the legal limit, Ramsey said, but noted investigators had no evidence proving he was intoxicated at the time of the fire.
CNN reached out to Stout’s attorney, Nicole Diamond, for comment on the allegation he was drunk at the time of the incident and to ask about Ramsey’s statement that he has partially admitted responsibility. She declined to comment.
Triple-digit temperatures and high wind gusts have fueled the explosive growth of the Park Fire amid an active fire season in California. A staggering 751,327 acres have burned across the state so far in 2024, which is 29 times the amount of acres burnt in the state (25,763 acres) through the same portion of 2023, Cal Fire said.
Wildfires burned more than 324,900 acres in California in all of 2023, Cal Fire said.
“The numbers are a stark reminder: 95% of wildfires are caused by humans,” Cal Fire said.
CNN’s Robert Shackelford, Sarah Dewberry and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.
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