Thunderstorms swell wildfire in California
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Thunderstorms whipped up the Dixie fire heading into the weekend, expanding the monthold blaze nearly 23,000 acres to the north and the east.
And officials warned Saturday that they do not expect the weather conditions to let up just yet.
The Dixie fire, which began one month ago on July 14, has tended to follow cyclical patterns of growth based on the smoke cover. When the cover is strong, such as for much of the past week, the fire remains relatively suppressed, and crews can expand containment lines. When weather conditions cause the smoke to lift, such as Friday, the blaze has the potential to explode once more.
Friday’s 23,000-acre expansion is still relatively low compared to the previous Friday, when the blaze charred 110,000 acres in a single day. But officials said in their latest update Saturday morning that the thunderstorms had pushed the fire precariously close to homes in areas such as Keddie Ridge, Wilcox Valley and Westwood.
“What we saw yesterday was unfortunately those thunderstorms did materialize, and they did have gusty winds that went 360 degrees, up to 50 mph,” Jake Cagle, the operations chief at the east zone of the fire, said in a Saturday morning incident briefing. “So our crews were highly engaged in the afternoon in structure protection in there. It was a very tough day yesterday in there in the afternoon.”
The blaze, California’s second-largest of all time, has burned 844 square miles in Butte, Plumas, Tehama and Lassen counties. And officials said Saturday that as thunderstorms remain in the forecast, total acreage could continue to increase significantly.
“We do have a forecast of thunderstorms again today,” Cagle said. “A little bit less … but if they do arise we can expect the same kind of fire behavior, winds pushing fire in all directions. So that’s what we’re faced with; another critical day today, another challenging day today.”
Firefighters took advantage of mild weather conditions early in the week to boost containment to 31%. That number stayed the same Saturday. Nearly the entire southern portion of the blaze is now secured behind fire lines.
But the fire has continued to spread with limited control in sections in the north and eastern parts of the fire, prompting officials to scrap plans to lift evacuation orders in the Lake Almanor area Friday. Tehama County released additional evacuation orders for the Mill Creek area Friday, and Plumas County did the same for the Genessee Valley.
And officials warned Friday that the small Lassen County town of Westwood, just east of Lake Almanor, may be in imminent danger.
The Dixie fire has destroyed 1,120 buildings and damaged 74. Last Wednesday, the fire tore through Greenville, destroying most of the town. Canyondam was also burned last Thursday. No civilian injuries or deaths have been reported yet from either incident.
Through the week, officials have been able to locate 46 previously unaccounted for people from the area of the blaze. On Friday evening, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office announced that it was still searching for one person: Ronald Avila of Greenville.
As of Saturday, 14,956 homes and businesses remain threatened.
A total of 6,533 fire personnel are assigned to the Dixie fire, plus 20 helicopters and 545 engines. Three firefighters have been injured in the blaze, according to Cal Fire’s morning update.
The official cause of the Dixie fire is still under investigation, but just a few days after the fire started on July 14, PG&E released a report suggesting that its equipment may have sparked the fire. Monday, PG&E released an additional report saying that they had found no fault with the power lines that reportedly could have begun the Dixie fire.