- The Dixie Fire in California is the largest active wildfire in the United States, with more than 5,000 people currently fighting it.
- Scientists say that long-term droughts caused by climate change have left much of the western United States and Canada in a dry state — and are vulnerable to explosive and extremely destructive fires.
- Thousands of residents fled the area, and many were forced to find temporary shelters.
Authorities said on Sunday that the terrifying Dixie fire in northern California has become the second largest wildfire in the state’s history. Three people are reported missing and thousands have fled the fire.
Authorities said that as of Sunday, the fire had burned 489,287 acres (198,007 hectares), up from 447,723 acres the day before. Now its area is larger than Los Angeles.
The Dixie Fire is the largest active wildfire in the United States, but it is only one of 11 major wildfires in California.
Last weekend, it surpassed the Mendocino complex fire in 2018 and became the second worst fire in the state’s history.
“It’s like driving away from the war zone you saw in the movie,” Tammy Kugler told AFP. After escaping from the historic city of Greenville, she sat next to the tent at the evacuation station and then it was burned.
“My neighbor is gone-I mean no, no. I care and love everyone around there, their home is gone,” she said, adding: “I have no insurance.”
On Saturday, Governor Gavin Newsom visited the charred remains of Greenville and expressed “deep thanks” to the team fighting the flames.
He said the authorities must invest more resources to manage forests and prevent fires.
But he added, “Droughts have become drier and hotter than ever before… We need to directly admit that these are wildfires caused by the climate.”
Climate change has exacerbated droughts and created ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out of control and cause unprecedented material and environmental damage.
According to the CalFire website, the Dixie fire that injured three firefighters on Saturday remained at 21% on Sunday, the same as the previous day.
The staff estimated that the fire that started on July 13 will not be completely extinguished within two weeks.
Weak winds and higher humidity have provided some help for firefighters, but they are preparing for higher temperatures that are expected to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) in the coming days.
In some areas, heavy smoke makes driving dangerous for firefighters, and steep trails make entry difficult.
Since December 2017, the eight largest wildfires in the state have occurred. Scars from previous fires that were still blackened sometimes helped Dixie Fire crews, reducing the amount of fuel available.
Thousands of residents have fled the area, and many have been forced to find temporary shelter-even living in tents, and are often not sure whether their homes have survived.
In the clouded evacuation site of Susanville, exhausted families sit on folding chairs next to their tents, and their vehicles are full of belongings looted from abandoned houses.
The Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said they were still looking for the three who were listed as missing after two other people were found over the weekend.
The Dixie fire has destroyed about 400 buildings — destroyed Greenville — and the California Fire Department said it is deploying workers and equipment to rescue houses in Crescent Mills, a small town 5 kilometers southeast of Greenville.
More than 5,000 people are now fighting the Dixie fire.
Despite repeated evacuation orders issued by the authorities, some residents still refuse to flee, preferring to try to put out the fire by themselves rather than leaving their property.
By late July, the area of land burned in California had increased by more than 250% from 2020—in itself the worst year of wildfires in the state’s modern history.
Scientists say that long-term droughts caused by climate change have caused the western United States and much of Canada to dry up — and are vulnerable to explosive and extremely destructive fires.
Initial investigations revealed that the Dixie fire was caused by a tree falling on a cable owned by the regional utility Pacific Gas & Company (PG&E), a private operator, and a camp fire in 2018 killed 86 people.
