Lower Temperature Helps to Slow Spread of California Wildfire
(NEWSnet/AP) — Thousands of firefighters battling wildfire in northern California received some help from weather conditions Saturday morning, hours after the blaze expanded in size.
Lower temperature and increased humidity could help to slow the spread of Park Fire, the largest blaze so far in 2024 in California.
Temperature is expected to drop early next week, but its impact on fighting the blaze is uncertain, said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
More than 130 structures have been destroyed, and thousands more are threatened as evacuation was ordered in four California counties.
On Friday, the fire encompassed 480 square miles and was moving north and east, after igniting July 24, when a man pushed a burning car into a gully.
Cal Fire incident commander Billy See said the blaze had been advancing 8 square miles per hour since its inception.
There was cautious optimism, as weather conditions slowed the fire’s advance in some areas, and firefighters were able to deploy additional personnel.
“We’ve got almost three times the personnel we had yesterday morning,” he said. “We still don’t have enough.”
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