Butte County Schools Closed Until After Thanksgiving Due To Camp Fire

PARADISE (CBS13) - With the Camp Fire still raging, Butte County school officials have decided to close all public schools until at least after the Thanksgiving break.

Tim Taylor, the Butte County Superintendent of Schools, said in a release on Friday that all the area's schools - including charter schools - will be closed through Nov. 23.

"Time is needed to help understand the extent of loss and disruption in our county and to develop ways to resume safely providing services to our schools and students," Taylor said in a statement.

The Camp Fire began on Thursday and quickly exploded in size, basically destroying the town of Paradise. As of Friday morning, Cal Fire says the fire is up to 70,000 acres and only 5 percent containment.

About 2,000 structures are estimated to have been destroyed so far, Cal Fire says.

Smoke from the Camp Fire is causing air quality problems all across Northern California.