Out-of-control fire among biggest-ever in California

A fire raging out of control in northern California has rapidly become among the biggest ever in the western US state, authorities have said.

The so-called Park Fire has so far burned more than 142,000 hectares, making it the seventh-largest ever recorded in California history, the state agency Cal Fire said.

The fire, which prompted orders for more than 4,000 people to flee their homes, was burning through a largely rural, mountainous area near the city of Chico, about 145 kilometers north of state capital Sacramento.

The Park Fire started on Wednesday near Chico, in Butte County, and within hours had devastated a wide area there and in neighboring Tehama County.

On Thursday, police detained a 42-year-old man on suspicion of having started the fire by pushing a burning car into a ravine.

Agence France-Presse