LOS ANGELES – United States authorities said yesterday they were searching for five people missing as a huge wildfire raged in northern California, leaving two towns in little more than cinders.
The Dixie Fire, the largest active wildfire in the United States, recently became the third-largest in California history.
As of late yesterday it had destroyed 180,782ha in four counties, up from the previous day’s 434,813 and surpassing the vast Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon.
Dixie is now 21% contained, the CalFire website reported, adding that three firefighters had so far been injured fighting the blaze.
While the fire continued to grow, officials said yesterday that cooler, calmer weather was giving firefighters a much-needed break.
Those conditions are expected to continue today.
“We expect the same fire behaviour as yesterday, which was fairly moderate,” Jake Cagle, a firefighter section chief, said in a briefing yesterday.
Earlier, the Dixie Fire left the gold rush town of Greenville charred and in ruins, while also burning through the small town of Canyondam.
The Plumas County sheriff’s office said it had received descriptions of five people considered missing in Greenville and was searching for them.
Five other missing people were confirmed found yesterday. – AFP, August 8, 2021
