Dixie Fire grows to more than 900,000 acres

As crews turned a corner on the Caldor fire near South Lake Tahoe, the Dixie Fire in Northern California continued to rage, surpassing yet another worrisome milestone this week as it grew to more than 900,000 acres.

The fire ignited 54 days ago in the dense forest of Plumas County. In the days and weeks that followed, it garnered several ominous designations — including the second largest wildfire in California history, and the first of two to burn from one side of the Sierra to the other.

Now it is on the brink of joining 2020’s August Complex in infamy: That fire was the first in California to surpass 1 million acres, and the Dixie may soon join it. As of Tuesday, the fire had burned 917,579 acres and was 59% contained.

Officials said conditions are primed for the Dixie Fire to continue to burn.

“For the next seven days, we expect no precipitation at all, which is what this fire really needs,” incident meteorologist Jack Messick said Monday evening. “It’s not there.”

Messick said sunny skies will meet with nearrecord heat in some areas of the fire this week, including temperatures in the high 90s around Milford and Herlong, where crews are scrambling to maintain containment lines along the 395 corridor.

Additional property loss has been reported in the north end of Dixie Valley, bringing the total number of structures destroyed by the fire to 1,282, officials said. Nearly 6,000 structures remain threatened by the fire.

The Dixie Fire is also still very active in the rugged wilderness of Lassen National Volcanic Park, where firefighters are contending with steep terrain as they work to battle the flames.

Officials said they may get a break later in the week as winds dissipate and firefighting conditions improve. Portions of the fire are also lapping at the perimeter of the recent Sugar Fire, and tying the two blazes together could help slow the spread of flames due to a lack of fuel, or unburned vegetation.

But, Dixie Fire operations sections chief Jeff Surbur said, “this fire has proven its ability to sustain itself.”

MEL MELCON/LOS ANGELES TIMES Amanda Peri, an inspector with Cal Fire Shasta Trinity Unit, searches through debris to determine what material the roofs of homes that burned down were made from in the town of Greenville, which was razed by the Dixie Fire, on Aug. 8.