Engulfing an area twice the size of New York city, the Dixie Fire in California has become the second-worst natural disaster in the state's history.The massive Dixie fire in northern California has expanded to become the second-largest wildfire in the state's history, state authorities informed on Sunday. The fire had destroyed 489,287 acres as of Sunday, up from 447,723 acres the day before and now grown to include an area larger than Los Angeles. Three persons remain missing. Dixie Fire engulfed area twice as big as New York City
The Dixie Fire is the country's largest active wildfire. It eclipsed the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire over the weekend to become California's second-worst fire. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Dixie Fire, named after the road where it started nearly four weeks ago, had grown to 1981.34 sq kms by Sunday evening. Only 21% of the fire has been contained. The Dixie Fire has now engulfed an area more than twice the size of New York City.
A fallen limb injured four firefighters on Friday, sending them to the hospital. Initially, over 30 persons were reported missing, but the Plumas County Sheriff's Office rescued them all by Monday. Crews that had been immediately assaulting the front lines will be forced to retreat and create containment lines farther back, according to Dan McKeague, a fire information officer from the United States Forest Service.Dixie Fire is expected to end in two weeks
According to the CalFire website, the Dixie Fire is expected to take two weeks to completely extinguish. CalFire said workers and equipment were being deployed to save homes in Crescent Mills, a small town five kilometres southeast of Greenville, where the Dixie Fire has already damaged around 400 structures and completely devastated Greenville. Almost 5,000 people are working towards controlling the Dixie Fire.Despite repeated evacuation orders from officials, several homeowners have refused to leave their houses, preferring to battle the fire themselves rather than evacuate. By late July, the number of acres burned in California had increased by more than 250% since 2020. Due to climate change, long-term droughts have left most of the western United States, and Canada, dry, leaving them vulnerable to explosive and deadly wildfires. According to preliminary findings, the Dixie Fire was ignited when a tree fell on a power cable held by regional utility Pacific Gas & Company (PG&E), a private operator previously blamed for Camp Fire in 2018 which killed 86 people.
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