They pushed a burning car down a ravine - now the fire in California is one of the largest
In 41-degree heat, a man pushed a burning car down a ravine north of Sacramento on Wednesday. The authorities suspect that this is how the giant fire in California started, writes the Los Angeles Times.
After that, the flames spread like an avalanche and quickly grew into one of the state's biggest fires ever. There are also no signs that the spread is about to stop - quite the opposite.
The heat, the dry landscape and the difficult terrain have given the flames free rein. The good news is that the area is relatively uninhabited.
Several experts say they are almost impressed by the progress of the fire. "Extraordinary", "explosive" and "unbelievable" are words that recur in the news reporting.
- This is a fire that we will have to live with for weeks, if not months, says climate scientist Daniel Swain.
The man suspected of pushing the car into the ravine – 42-year-old Ronnie Dean Stout II – has been arrested.
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Chief of Police: The fire has fingers that grow in different directions
What distinguishes the great forest fire in California is the incredibly fast spread.
- The fire has fingers that grow in different directions depending on which direction the wind blows, explains Kory Honea, who is the police chief in the district of Butte where the fire started and has reaped great damage.
At a press conference last night, operations manager Billy See stated that the affected area is growing by thousands of hectares every hour, AP writes. According to CNN, the authorities stated at the same time that they had "zero percent" control of the fire.
"There is a tremendous amount of fuel out there and it will continue at this rapid rate," See said.
According to the Los Angeles Times, over 121,000 hectares of forest have burned so far. It can be compared to the large forest fires in Central Sweden in 2018, when around 20,000 hectares of forest burned.
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