THE PARK FIRE in Northern California continues to grow in the face of winds and high temperatures (Cal Fire photo).

The Park Fire in Northern California has grown to 353,194 acres as of Sunday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (known as Cal Fire).

At the same time, it’s estimated that the blaze, which began on Wednesday, is 12 percent contained. It’s believed that the fire started when an arsonists pushed a burning car into a gully where the conflagration spread.

What’s already considered to be the eighth-biggest fire in California history has led to evacuation orders being issued in the counties of Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama. Sixty-six buildings have been destroyed and another five have suffered some damage.

The fire is being fed by high temperatures, surging winds and dry conditions.

Polls closing in Venezuela

FLAG OF VENEZUELA

A closely-watched presidential election in Venezuela is drawing to a close with long lines at polling places and some violence between factions.

President Nicolas Maduro, a socialist, is being challenged by Edmundo Gonzalez, a former diplomat as the candidate of the opposition coalition.

Maduro’s 2018 re-election is considered to be fraudulent by the U.S. His rule has been controversial as there’s been a widespread economic collapse, due in part to sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Nations on oil exports, which are a major part of the Venezuelan economy. It’s estimated that about one-third of the nation’s population has left the country.

Angels, Dodgers break through

After a frustrating run of games, the Los Angeles Angels  and Los Angeles Dodgers each posted victories on Sunday.

The Angels, who have been the whipping boy of the American League West’s last place Oakland A’s, flipped the script from previous blown leads to rally late and get an 8-6 win on Sunday in Anaheim.

After falling behind 6-0 in the top of the third, the Halos pushed across three runs in the third. They took the lead with four runs in the seventh on a grand slam home run – his fourth –  by Taylor Ward.

That snapped a four-game losing streak to the A’s and improved the Angels’ record to 46-60. Oakland is 44-64.

As for the Dodgers, they stopped a two-game slide against the Houston Astros, winning 6-2 on the road. They got a strong start from River Ryan (1-0), who worked 5.2 innings and gave up just two hits and one run. He stuck out eight batters and walked three.

At bat, the Blue Crew got home runs from James Outman (his fourth of the season), Gavin Lux (sixth) and Teo Hernandez (22nd).

LAD now stands at 63-44 and in first place in the National League West, leading the San Diego Padres by 6.5 games. The loss pushed the Astros into a virtual tie for first in the AL West at 55-40 (.524) with the Seattle Mariners (56-51, .523)

2024 Summer Olympics in Paris

In the third day of the Summer Olympics in Paris, Japan and Australia are leading in gold medals won (four), while  the United States is leading with 12 medals (three of them gold) overall.

The host nation, France, has eight medals and three gold.

In mens’ basketball, USA defeated Serbia 110- 84.

Weather: Same old neighborhood

There’s not much variety coming in our West Orange County area weather this coming week. Daytime highs will range from 80 to 82 degrees, with overnight lows from 60 to 65. Skies will be partly cloudy through Thursday.