Lightning and a burning car pushed into a gully are blamed for wildfires scorching the West

A burning car pushed into a gully sparked California’s largest wildfire of the year, authorities said Thursday as they announced the arrest of a suspect. Meanwhile other blazes scorched the Pacific Northwest.

Flames from the fire the man is accused of starting exploded into what is now the Park Fire, which has burned more than 110 square miles (289 square kilometers) near the city of Chico. Evacuations were ordered in Butte and Tehama counties, with the blaze only 3% contained by midday Thursday.

California authorities did not immediately name the man they arrested.

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 biggest active blaze in the United States. More than two dozen new fires started in Montana on Wednesday and early Thursday, and another fast-moving wildfire forced thousands to abandon a town in Canada.

In eastern Oregon, 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 (1,630 square kilometers) burned by the Durkee Fire – the nation’s biggest – and another nearby blaze.

Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash called the rain a “godsend” and the Oregon State Fire Marshal said firefighters were set to “seize the opportunity” of better conditions to p...