Wildfire prompts evacuation orders for rural community in northern California

PALERMO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities in rural northern California have ordered evacuations due to a fast-moving fire threatening the community of Palermo, which is near where the state’s deadliest wildfire struck six years ago.

The fire covered about 1 square mile (2.6 square kilometers) in the initial hours Monday after the flames were first reported, said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

The cause of the blaze — dubbed the Apache Fire — was under investigation. Two smaller spot fires also burned.

Palermo had a population of about 9,400 in the 2020 census. The town is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) north of Sacramento.

It is part of Butte County, which is also home to Paradise, where California’s deadliest wildfire killed 85 people and destroyed 11,000 homes in 2018.