Residents flee as Nixon fire in southern Riverside County spreads rapidly
The Nixon fire near Aguanga in southern Riverside County exploded in size after it ignited Monday afternoon, growing to almost 5,000 acres by Tuesday night, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Photos and video from the scene showed some buildings destroyed by flames and others on fire. Cal Fire said Tuesday night that one structure had been destroyed and four damaged. It wasn’t immediately clear how many of the structures were homes. About 2,000 buildings were under evacuation orders and warnings, according to Cal Fire.
Firefighters responded to calls around 12:30 p.m. Monday about the blaze near Richard Nixon Boulevard in Aguanga, a largely rural community not far from Palomar Mountain and Riverside County’s border with San Diego County.
Within a few hours, the fire saw explosive growth, hitting 1,000 acres by 5 p.m. before almost tripling in size by 8 p.m., according to Cal Fire.
The Park fire’s growth amid steady winds and hot temperatures has been dramatic. It is the seventh-largest wildfire in California history and still growing.
It had swelled to 4,941 acres as of Tuesday night with no containment. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The Nixon fire is just one of several burning across California.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed an emergency proclamation in Kern County because of the Borel fire, which has continued to expand in and around Sequoia National Forest. That blaze had grown to 57,306 acres Tuesday evening, according to federal officials. It was 17% contained.
“We’re seeing significantly more intense activity” in fires across the state, Newsom said Tuesday. Roughly 750,000 acres have burned this season, a significant increase from the state’s five-year average of 140,000 acres, Newsom said.
“It’s not just August, September and October,” he said, “but likely November-December that we’ll be fighting the ferocity of Mother Nature and these fires.”
The massive Park fire burning in Butte and Tehama counties, which has become the state’s fifth-largest in recorded history, continued to grow overnight, hitting 386,764 acres as of Tuesday night, with 18% containment.
The perimeter of the blaze is 260 miles, more than three times the surface area of Lake Tahoe, according to Cal Fire. Crews fighting to slow the fire’s spread have been challenged by strong winds, high temperatures and extremely dry fuel beds.
The fire has forced more than 26,000 people across Butte, Tehama and Shasta counties to flee their homes. More than 300 structures have been damaged or destroyed, fire officials said.
Residents who have been forced to evacuate could get some help covering relocation costs from their homeowners or renters insurance, according to state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. These policies typically cover food and housing costs, furniture rental, relocation and storage fees and extra transportation expenses.
A wildfire burning northeast of Chico has swelled to more than 164,000 acres, sending thousands of residents fleeing in the night.
Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, who is accused of starting the Park fire by pushing his flaming car down an embankment in upper Bidwell Park in Chico, was denied bail Monday by a Superior Court judge in Oroville.
Stout has denied that he intentionally started the fire and told officials that he did not push the car down the hill.
Butte County Dist. Atty. Mike Ramsey said prosecutors are not alleging that Stout purposely started the blaze but that he helped the inferno spread once his car — stuck in an area of dry grasses — caught fire. Prosecutors argue that Stout, whom they accuse of being intoxicated at the time, walked away from the scene.
He “watched the fire develop under his car, then got in a position … to push the car backwards into that gully,” Ramsey alleged at a news conference Monday. “This didn’t have to happen.”
In Riverside County, crews fighting the Nixon fire faced another day of temperatures in the 90s and low humidity.
The fire is burning in thick chaparral that flourished during the rainy season but has since dried out, providing prime conditions for a fast-moving wildfire. Rob Roseen, a spokesperson for Cal Fire’s Riverside County unit, said the fuel load in the area is about double what is typical for this time of year.
Cal Fire said Tuesday night that 741 personnel were battling the blaze, both on the ground and from the air, using airplanes and helicopters.
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