The Dixie Fire, which began mere miles from California's deadliest ever wildfire and is now the 14th largest in state history, has destroyed over 50 structures and is only 23% contained.
Active for two weeks, the Dixie Fire had burned 217,581 acres and destroyed 54 structures as of Wednesday afternoon. Only Oregon's Bootleg Fire has burned more acres (413,400) this year, and the Beckwourth Complex is the only other fire in California to burn over 100,000.
As of Tuesday, the Dixie Fire had burned 61.2% of the acreage smoldered by active California wildfires, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Evacuation orders are in place in parts of Butte, Lassen, Plumas and Tehama counties, but CAL FIRE has not yet reported any deaths.
PG&E agreed with a state report that blown fuses on one of the company’s utility poles might’ve started the fire earlier this month, which began burning near Paradise.
The 2018 Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed 18,804 structures in Paradise. CAL FIRE investigators determined PG&E was responsible for the fire, and the utility pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter last year in admitting its culpability.
Because of the Dixie Fire, PG&E announced last week it intends to bury 10,000 miles of power lines underground in order to decrease wildfire risk.
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