File:Smoke from California's Park Fire (MODIS 2024-07-30).jpg

English: The Park Fire in Northern California more than doubled in area in a matter of days in late July 2024. It quickly became the state’s sixth-largest wildland fire on record, and as of July 29, it was the largest active fire in the United States.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of the Park Fire on July 28. Red “hot spots” mark areas of actively burning fire and show that the Park Fire is burning along several fronts. Other smaller, fires can be seen scattered across the region. Copious gray smoke billows from the Park Fire and smothers the region. In some parts of California and Nevada the smoke is so thick that it obscures the ground from view.

The Park Fire ignited around 3 p.m. local time on July 24 near Chico, California, and spread rapidly as it consumed dry grass and brush. By the morning of July 26, it had burned 165,000 acres. The next day the burned area had ballooned to 307,000 acres—an area larger than the city of Los Angeles—according to CAL FIRE. Record heat, high winds, and abundant dry fuel contributed to the extreme fire behavior and rapid expansion, experts told news sources.

Periods of cooler temperatures starting the evening of July 27 moderated the fire’s growth and allowed crews to combat the flames. Cal Fire reported that the fire had grown to approximately 370,000 acres on July 29, with 12 percent containment. The blazes prompted evacuation orders in four counties and the closure of public lands, including Lassen Volcanic National Park.