The Park Fire continues to burn in Tehama County and into Lassen National Forest, though containment on the fire is growing, and firefighters are increasingly able to slow the fire's progress along its northeast front.
First sparked on the afternoon of July 24, allegedly by a drunk man who pushed a burning Toyota Yaris into a ravine, the Park Fire is now the fourth-largest wildfire in state history and has burned 429,300 acres as of Tuesday morning. The fire has over 30,000 acres to go to overtake the next-largest fire, which was 2018's Mendocino Complex fire, and it may not get there if containment efforts by some 5,600 firefighting personnel continue to be successful.
The northeast branch of the fire, burning around Morgan Mountain and in the community of Mill Creek, remains one of the only active portions of the fire. Mill Creek abuts an area of Lassen National Forest that previously burned in 2021's Dixie Fire.
![](https://img.sfist.com/2024/08/park-fire-hot-spots-aug-13.jpg)
As Cal Fire explains in an update, "The fire is primarily burning in timber and dead and down vegetation." And, in total, the Park Fire has burned into 113,736 acres of Lassen National Forest, some of which had previously burned, but much of which had not.
As the fire enters its fourth week, damage assessments from the massive blaze continue to be conducted, but the scope of the damage is becoming clearer.
A map, which continues to be updated, shows where the majority of structures have been destroyed in the fire. A total of 637 structures, including residential, commercial, and minor sructures, have been destroyed in the assessment to date.
The map shows structures with no damage in black, and structures destroyed in red. See the interactive map here.
![](https://img.sfist.com/2024/08/park-fire-house-damage-map.jpg)
The majority of the damage was concentrated in Butte County where the fire was raging in its first days, just north of Chico, east of Sugarloaf Mountain. This includes the community of Cohasset, though a large number of homes were saved there — while homes in the forest to the east of Cohasset were destroyed.
Other concentrations of destruction occurred in the town of Campbellville, and on the northern front of the fire, near the communities of Lyman Springs and Paynes Creek. It appears that the bulk of structures in and around Mill Creek, where the fire is currently active, have been spared through the efforts of firefighters.
Evacuation orders remain in place for parts of Tehama and Plumas counties near the active areas of the fire. Those can be found here.
There have been no fatalities attributed to the Park Fire to date.
The fire is now 39% contained, but Cal Fire warns that smoldering areas beneath layers of ash could reignite if weather conditions worsen.
Previously: Park Fire Arson Suspect Charged, Investigators Say He Was Drunk at Time of Fire's Start