Firefighters battling California’s largest wildfire of the year are preparing for challenging conditions entering the weekend.
Expected thunderstorms may unleash lightning and erratic winds, potentially undermining progress made over the past week.
The Park Fire, which has burned over 614 square miles since allegedly being started by arson in a wilderness park in the Sierra Nevada foothills, presents a significant challenge.
The fire is moving north toward the rugged terrain of Lassen Volcanic National Park, which has been closed due to the threat.
Cal Fire reported that the landscape’s lava rocks make the work difficult and slow for hand crews.
“Crews are being flown into access areas that have been hard to reach because of long drive times and steep, rugged terrain,” Cal Fire said in a situation report.
The concern with thunderstorms is the potential for gusty outflow winds that could push the fire or create new ignitions.
Jonathan Pangburn, a fire behavior analyst with Cal Fire, noted: “Even if there’s not lightning per se, it is very much a safety-watch-out environment for our firefighters out there.”
Cal Fire meteorologist Tom Walbrun said there is little prospect of beneficial rains from the storms.
The forecast for next week indicates continued warming and drying, exacerbating the fire risks.
Walbrun commented: “As we look forward in time, we’re really just entering the peak of fire season in California.”
The Park Fire has already destroyed at least 480 structures and damaged 47 more.
It is one of nearly 100 large fires burning across the western United States.
In Colorado, a wildfire on the edge of metro Denver has come within a quarter-mile of evacuated homes.
Authorities remain hopeful that the hundreds of threatened residences can be saved despite high temperatures and firefighters suffering from heat exhaustion.
The Quarry Fire, southwest of Littleton, forced the evacuation of neighborhoods with nearly 600 homes after spreading rapidly.
Jim and Meg Lutes, residents near the fire, expressed concern about the potential for wind to change the fire’s direction.
Mark Techmeyer, spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, reported that five firefighters were injured, including four with heat exhaustion.
The fire, which has been challenging to access due to steep terrain, has been contained to about a half-square mile.
Miles to the north, progress has been made on the Stone Canyon Fire near Lyons, Colorado, where evacuations have been lifted.
This fire, which killed one person and destroyed five houses, is still under investigation.
New large fires have been reported in Idaho, southeastern Montana, and north Texas.
Scientists warn that extreme wildfires are becoming more common and destructive in the western U.S. and other parts of the world as climate change warms the planet and intensifies droughts.
