Butte County, California - One man is accused of starting California's largest wildfire of the year on Thursday after he pushed his burning car down an embankment. More than 4,000 people had to be evacuated and the fire department is still in action.

Passersby could not believe their eyes when they saw a man in the city of Chico push a burning car almost 20 meters down a slope in a city park at around 3 PM on Thursday.

The car was completely engulfed in flames shortly afterward and the fire immediately spread to the surrounding plants and trees.

According to a statement from the district attorney's office, the man was then "seen calmly leaving the area by blending in with other citizens who were in the area and fleeing the rapidly evolving fire."

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Driven by wind, heat, and dry bushland, the fire spread explosively over the next few hours, forcing more than 4,000 people to leave their homes in the dark of night and flee to safety.

By Thursday evening, the flames had engulfed over 164,000 acres, according to the Californian Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. So far this year, no other wildfire in California has had such a dramatic impact.

Firefighters have been working continuously since the outbreak on Thursday afternoon and, according to the LA Times, are currently concentrating on fighting individual pockets of fire, setting up protective lines, and protecting endangered structures.

Wind gusts of up to 48 mph are pushing the fire further north on Friday, and the National Weather Service warns that this in combination with low humidity could rapidly grow the fire.

"A lot of us who work in fire have kind of been waiting for this fire to happen for the last 25 years," Zeke Lunder, a fire expert and geographer from Chico told the LA Times.

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He explained that the lack of recent fires has made the area "a jackpot for flames." In addition, the area is steep and inaccessible in many places, making firefighting efforts difficult.

Progress has been made, said Dan Collins, spokesman for the local fire department – but the fire is "still far from under control" and there is still the potential for the fire to spread to more built-up areas, which could lead to significant damage to buildings.

According to Collins, around 1,100 firefighters, several firefighting aircrafts, and more than 150 fire engines are currently on the scene. No one has been injured so far.

And the arsonist?

The 42-year-old, identified by the public prosecutor's office as Ronnie Dean Stout II, was arrested on suspicion of arson. He will now be remanded in custody without bail until his court appearance on Monday