It took only a week for the Park fire north of Sacramento to grow into the fifth-largest in California history, signaling the potential for a destructive wildfire season across much of the western United States. Almost 50 other large or notable fires were burning throughout the region Wednesday, according to a New York Times tracker.
Although this year doesn’t yet compare to 2020, the most destructive wildfire season of the past two decades, the sheer number of fires burning in Western states — both big and small — has threatened to overwhelm firefighting resources at a rate that worries experts so early in the season.
“Normally we’re ramping up in July to get to that peak in August, early September,” said Alex Robertson, director of fire and aviation management for the U.S. Forest Service. But this year, he said, “we’re going into August already at our full tilt.”
At least one person was killed this week by a wildfire burning near Denver, and a historic mining town was leveled near Bakersfield, California. More than 500,000 acres of the western United States have burned in the past week, according to the Times wildfire tracker.
Robertson said the Forest Service had already had to request about 80 aviation and fire operations experts from Australia and New Zealand to help manage the fires spreading in California and other states, including Washington, Oregon and Colorado.
It’s common for nations to share firefighting resources, but Robertson said it was unusual for the United States to need so much help by the end of July.
A wet winter and spring, which allowed vegetation to grow quickly, followed by record-breaking heat across much of the West have led to textbook fire-burning conditions, experts said. Climate change has been making heat waves in the region more intense and longer. July 22, two days before the Park fire began, was Earth’s hottest day on record, and some areas burned by the blaze experienced their warmest 30-day periods just before it broke out.
Weather forecasts in Western states including Washington, Oregon and Colorado promise more hot, dry conditions, said Ashton Robinson Cook, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Temperatures across the region are expected to reach about 100 degrees Fahrenheit each day through the end of the week, with little to no rain in sight.
Since the destructive fire season of 2020, when the August Complex fire burned more than 1 million acres across seven counties of Northern California, the last three seasons have been relatively calmer overall, though still with some devastating and deadly fires.
About 7 million acres of the United States — roughly half the size of California — have burned on average over the past decade, said Candy Stevenson, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center. About 4.4 million acres have burned in 2024, she said.
Experts are worried that firefighters will become fatigued too early in the season. “That happens to somebody when they’re home for three days, and then they’re out off again,” Robertson said.
The Park fire is by far the largest in the western United States at this point. It has burned through about 390,000 acres since being started July 24 by a burning car that was pushed into a ravine near Chico, California.
A suspect, who has been charged with felony arson, is set to appear in court Thursday morning to enter a plea.
More than 5,500 firefighters have been called up to fight the blaze, which was 18% contained Wednesday. About 360 structures have been destroyed, according to Cal Fire, and thousands of people have been placed under evacuation orders.
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