Raging wildfire destroys parts of Northern California Gold Rush town

A wind-blown wildfire ravaged a northern California mountain town, leaving much of the downtown area in ash as crews braced for another blast of flames amid dangerous weather.

The Dixie fire, swollen by dry vegetation and gusts of 40 mph, raged Wednesday night in the town of Greenville in the northern Sierra Nevada. A gas station, hotel, and bar were among many destroyed structures in the city, which dates from the era of California’s gold rush and has buildings over a century old.

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“We did everything we could,” said firefighter spokesman Mitch Matlow. “Sometimes it’s just not enough.”

As the north and east sides of the blaze exploded, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office released a Facebook post warning the town’s 800 or so residents: “You are in imminent danger and you MUST go now!”

The three-week blaze was the largest wildfire in the state and had blackened well over 435 square miles (1,126 square kilometers), burning down dozens of homes before making its new run.

Earlier this week, some 5,000 firefighters had progressed on the blaze, saving homes under threat, bulldozing pockets of unburned vegetation and managing to surround a third of the perimeter.

More fire trucks and bulldozers have been ordered to bolster the fight, Matlow said. On Wednesday, the blaze spread over thousands of acres and an additional 4,000 people were ordered to evacuate, bringing nearly 26,500 people to several counties under evacuation orders, he said. .

Red flag weather conditions of high heat, low humidity and gusty afternoon and evening winds erupted on Wednesday and are expected to pose a continuing threat through Thursday evening.

The trees, grass and brush were so dry that “if an embers land, you’re pretty much guaranteed to start a new fire,” said Matlow.

The blaze ran parallel to an area of ​​canyon that served as a chimney, making it so hot it created huge columns of pyrocumulus smoke. These clouds bring chaotic winds, making a fire “critically erratic”, so it is difficult to predict the direction of growth, he added.

Dawn Garofalo fled with a dog and two horses from a friend’s property near Greenville, and watched the cloud rise on the west side of Almanor Lake.

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“There is only one entry and one exit,” she said. “I didn’t want to be stuck up there if the fire was going through.”

From her camp on the dry lake bed, she watched the fire glisten on the horizon before dawn.

About 240 kilometers to the west, the lightning-triggered McFarland Blaze threatened isolated homes along the Trinity River in Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The fire was only 5% contained after burning nearly 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) of drought-stricken vegetation.

Similar risky weather was expected in southern California, where advisories and heat warnings were issued for inland valleys, mountains and deserts for much of the week.

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Heat waves and the historic drought associated with climate change have made forest fires more difficult to fight in the American West. Scientists say climate change has made the region much hotter and drier over the past 30 years and will continue to make weather conditions more extreme and forest fires more frequent and destructive.

More than 20,000 firefighters and support personnel were fighting 97 large active wildfires covering 2,919 square miles (7,560 square kilometers) in 13 US states, the National Interagency Fire Center said.