Cops: Man Used Burning Car to Ignite Wildfire

A California man under arrest Thursday was accused of starting the state's largest wildfire of the year by pushing a burning car into a gully as other fires scorched the Pacific Northwest. Flames from the fire the suspect is accused of starting exploded into what is now the Park Fire, which has burned more than 70 square miles near the city of Chico, per the AP. Evacuations were ordered in Butte and Tehama counties, with the blaze only 3% contained early Thursday. California authorities did not immediately name the man they arrested.

• Oregon: As evacuations continued in California, some Oregon residents were cleared to return home after a thunderstorm dropped welcome rain but also potentially dangerous lightning on the Durkee Fire, the biggest active blaze in the United States. Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday for the city of Huntington, population 500, after a severe thunderstorm late Wednesday brought some rain and cooler temperatures to the nearly 630 square miles burned by the Durkee Fire and another nearby blaze. Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash called the rain a "godsend," but residents were warned to be ready to go again at a moment's notice.
• Lightning threat: Officials remain concerned that lightning from the storm—which brought wind gusts of up to 75mph—could spark new blazes. More than 2,800 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were detected across southeast Oregon and Idaho on Wednesday alone, the National Weather Service in Boise said Thursday.

(More California wildfires stories.)