Fueled by winds, largest wildfire moves near city

Firefighters faced dangerously windy weather Tuesday as they struggled to keep the nation’s largest wildfire from moving toward a Northern California city and other small mountain communities.

Forecasters issued red flag warnings of critical fire weather conditions including gusts up to 40 mph from late morning to near midnight.

The warnings came after the Dixie Fire grew explosively from winds spawned by a new weather system that arrived Monday afternoon. It was about 8 miles from Susanville, population about 18,000, early Tuesday, fire spokesman Doug Ulibarri said.

Numerous resources were put into the Susanville area, where residents were warned to be ready to evacuate, said Mark Brunton, an operations section chief.

“It’s not out of play, and the next 24 hours are going to be crucial to watch as to what the fire is going to do there,” he told an online briefing.