Dixie Fire: nearly 500,000 acres burned, unaccounted for found
(KYMA, KECY/CNN) - More than 12,000 people across eight California counties are currently under evacuation orders due to the 11 wildfires burning in the state, according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
The majority of those evacuations were caused by the Dixie Fire burning in Northern California. It has forced more than 9,500 people to evacuate across Butte, Plumas, Lassen, and Tehama counties.
Around 39% of residents in Plumas County, California, are under evacuation orders, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday.
The Dixie Fire, which has been raging for 25 days, increased in activity Sunday amid hot, dry and windy conditions, according to Cal Fire. The fire is now the second largest fire in California’s history and has burned more than 489,000 acres.
As of Sunday, no deaths were reported in connection with the Dixie Fire and as of Monday, four people who were previously unaccounted for are safe, according to the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office.
The city of Greenville in Plumas County was nearly leveled when the fire swept through it. Nearly every business in the city’s commercial center appeared to have collapsed or been gutted, with flames still flickering in the debris, video recorded Wednesday by storm chaser Brandon Clement showed.
“We have a deep responsibility to rebuild this community,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom during a visit to the town on Saturday. “But also address the intensity of what is occurring globally, but manifesting in smash-mouth ways here in California – and that’s climate change.”
Just 100 miles south of the Dixie Fire, about 500 people have been evacuated in Nevada and Placer County where the River Fire is still burning. The River Fire has charred 2,619 acres and is now 68% contained.
Throughout the country Sunday, there were 107 large wildfires burning in 15 states, while more than 2.2 million acres have burned, according to an update by the National Interagency Fire Center.
