Firefighters fight to contain Dixie Fire in Northern California
Flames surge into the air as firefighters try to contain the Dixie Fire in California. The wildfire in Northern California has grown to become the largest single wildfire in California state history.
One month since it began, the blaze is now the largest wildfire currently raging in the country. The insatiable Dixie Fire has consumed 552,589 acres and destroyed 1,120 structures, including much of the small Plumas County town of Greenville, according to Cal Fire. Nearly 15,000 more buildings remained under threat.
The huge vegetation fire, which is burning in the remote reaches of Plumas, Tehama, Lassen and Butte counties, is only 35% contained and is expected to grow. Nearly 5,000 firefighters are battling erratic winds and no shortage of dry fuels to keep the fire fed. Fire officials have not given a date for when they expect full containment.
More than 85 large wildfires were burning around the country, most of them in Western states, and they had burned over 1.4 million acres (2,135 square miles, or more than 553,000 hectares).
