An enormous wildfire in Northern California destroyed buildings, left at least two people injured and placed thousands of people under evacuation orders as it raged across the region on Friday morning, with over 164,000 acres burned in what has become the state’s largest fire so far this year.

The blaze, known as the Park fire, was burning near Chico, north of Sacramento. It was believed to have been sparked by a man accused of pushing a burning car into a gully on Wednesday afternoon, sending it 60 feet down an embankment.

A witness “saw him get into the vehicle, do something in the vehicle, get out of the vehicle and then push the flaming vehicle down in the embankment,” Michael Ramsey, Butte County’s district attorney, said in a news conference.

The man, who was identified as Ronnie Dean Stout, a Chico resident, was then seen leaving the area, apparently trying to blend into a crowd of people fleeing the flames, the Butte County District Attorney’s Office said.

Mr. Stout, 42, was being held in a local jail without bail on suspicion of intentional arson. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday. The district attorney said any charges would hinge on whether anyone is injured or killed in the fire.