A wildfire in Butte County exploded overnight, spreading from about 6,500 acres Wednesday evening to more than 45,500 acres by Thursday morning, according to Cal Fire.
The Park Fire forced widespread evacuation orders and warnings and destroyed multiple homes in areas north of Chico, Cal Fire said. It was only 3% contained as of Thursday morning.
The wildfire sparked just before 3 p.m. Wednesday off Upper Park Road in Upper Bidwell Park, east of Chico, Cal Fire said.
At about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, the agency said the fire had burned about 6,400 acres. By 4 a.m. Thursday, the fire had exploded to about seven times that size.
Video from one of the fire lines captured an explosion of a structure that had been burning.
Firefighters were focusing on evacuations and structure defense while also building containment lines using bulldozers, fire crews and fire engines, Cal Fire said.
There were no known injuries as of Thursday morning.
For more information about the fire, evacuation zones and evacuation centers, visit the Cal Fire website.
Source: NBC Bay Area