The California authorities were still without news of three people after the passage of the monstrous Dixie Fire, a blaze that became Sunday, August 8 the second largest fire in the history of the state.
The Plumas County Sheriff’s Office was still without news of three people in Greenville, a market town engulfed by the flames of more than 180,000 acres by midweek. State Governor Gavin Newsom visited the city ruins this weekend, expressing his “Deep gratitude” at the tireless work of the firefighters.
This blaze has only grown since mid-July, fueled by stifling heat, alarming drought and continuous winds.
Progressing on extremely steep trails, three firefighters were injured during the operations. Thousands of residents have fled the area, many taking refuge in makeshift camps – even tents – often not knowing whether their homes have withstood the flames. Some 370 structures (houses and other buildings) have already been destroyed. Despite repeated evacuation orders from the authorities, some still persist in fighting the fire on their own, anxious not to entrust their safety to strangers.
5,000 firefighters
Wildfires are common in California – so much so that locals sometimes wonder what is left to burn. But due to climate change, this summer is particularly violent. A golf course with yellowed grass, boaters swimming in a lake that is only a shadow of itself … In the region, signs of the drought that feeds the blazes are everywhere.
The milder weather this weekend has brought a little respite to the 5,000 firefighters who are fighting night and day the blaze, already larger than the city of Los Angeles. But sweltering temperatures are expected midweek and firefighters believe the blaze, which began on July 13, won’t be permanently extinguished until August 20.
According to a preliminary investigation, the fall of a tree on one of the thousands of electric cables which cross the American landscape is at the origin of the blaze. This power line is that of Pacific Gas & Company (PG&E), a private operator already guilty of causing Camp Fire, a blaze that nearly wiped the town of Paradise off the map and killed 86 people in 2018, to only a few kilometers away.
