Dixie Wildfire Update: California Fire Has Become Second Largest In State History
Wildfires have ravaged California in three of the last four years. The Dixie Fire, which started on July 13 in northeastern California, has become the second-biggest in the state's history.
The fire is reportedly 21% contained and has burned 463,477 acres of land, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire. In 2020, the August Complex Fire burned more than 1 million acres.
The Dixie Fire has burned down 400 buildings. Thousands of nearby residents are under evacuation orders.
There have been no fatalities. Three firefighters have been injured, according to CalFire.
The fire is threatening more than 13,000 buildings. Roughly 40% of residents remain under evacuation orders.
Jake Cagle, a section chief with the U.S Forest Service, explained that hot and windy conditions are staying consistent and causing trouble for firefighters to be able to get the wildfire under control.
This has caused the fire to spread further and firefighters are not able to take action because of thick layers of dark smoke covering the area.
“We’re definitely not out of the woods yet,” Cagle said.
The fire has spread to Greenville, a town in the Sierra Nevada. The Dixie fire destroyed much of Greenvile in less than two hours.
“We recognize we’ve got to do more in active forest management and vegetation management,” Cagle said.
“At the end of the day though, we also have to acknowledge this: the dries are getting a lot drier and the heat and hot weather is a lot hotter than it’s ever been.
“We need to acknowledge, just straight up, these are climate-induced wildfires."
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