Daniel Swain for PBS—Crews struggle to contain rapidly spreading Park Fire in California

UCLA climate expert Daniel Swain discusses the rapid expansion of the Park Fire in California for PBS News, highlighting its unprecedented growth and intensity. Swain shares how the fire, which started from a burning car, became the fifth largest in state history, burning nearly 400,000 acres in just a week and forcing thousands to evacuate. “This is definitely a top-tier event in terms of how quickly it moved across the landscape in those initial days,” Swain said. The intense heat and dry conditions across the western half of the country have significantly contributed to the severity of this fire season.