Arson-sparked Park Fire is now California’s fifth-largest wildfire

California’s Park Fire is now the fifth-largest wildfire in the state’s history, and a man accused of starting the destructive flames appeared in court Monday. At the same time, dozens of other fires continue to rage in the Western United States and Canada and thousands have been forced to evacuate. Here’s the latest:

California’s Park Fire is now the fifth-largest wildfire in the state’s history, and a man accused of starting the destructive flames appeared in court Monday. At the same time, dozens of other fires continue to rage in the Western United States and Canada and thousands have been forced to evacuate. Here’s the latest: • Park Fire climbs California’s record books: The fire, which began July 24, is now the fifth-largest wildfire in California history, having burned more than 386,000 acres, or 603 square miles, according to Cal Fire. “This region, both Butte and Tehama, over the course of time in California, has had four of the largest 10 fires known in history,” Cal Fire Incident Commander Billy See told a news conference Monday. As of Tuesday evening, it was 18% contained and had destroyed at least 192 structures and damaged 19 others across two of the affected counties. Cal Fire officials said more than 5,500 firefighters, including aerial and ground crews, had been working to quell the flames. • Man accused of igniting California’s Park Fire charged: Ronnie Dean Stout II has been charged with arson on suspicion of starting the Park Fire last week, a felony complaint filed Monday shows. A court document – similar to what authorities previously said – alleges in part that a witness saw him pushing a burning car down a 60-foot embankment. Stout is claiming he did not push the car, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said at a news conference. Stout didn’t enter a plea during a court appearance Monday, but he was denied bail, and his arraignment was continued to Thursday, Ramsey said. More charges could be added, he said. • California resident once again loses home to fire: Standing in the charred remains of his house, Butte County resident Rick Pero told CNN affiliate KHSL the Park Fire was the second California wildfire to destroy his home. Pero and his wife moved to Forest Ranch after losing another property to 2018’s deadly Camp Fire. This time, Pero and his wife were away when they got an evacuation warning and told their house sitter to pack the car and leave, he told KHSL. “We said don’t wait for the order stage, go ahead and load up. And, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get our shy cat out because it hides from people, so he got our other cat and loaded the car and was able to easily and successfully evacuate,” Pero said. He and his wife could still remain in Butte County, he said, but were also looking further afield. “It’s after two times, you know, live and learn,” he told KHSL. “This one was a harder one because of losing our little cat.” • Active wildfires in the US: Firefighters are dealing with 89 large active wildfires in the United States as of Tuesday– most of which were in the West, including 31 in Oregon and 10 in California and Idaho, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Together, the active fires cover more than 2 million acres. The agency stressed the need to have firefighters and firefighting resources available in areas where there was a high likelihood of fire breaking out due to the importance of an “initial attack” on new fires. “The vast majority of fire starts are contained at small sizes within 24 hours of their discovery,” it said.