The Dixie Fire is now the third-biggest in California history after leveling a small town earlier this week, with another already in its path.
As of Friday morning, the fire had burned 432,813 acres, surpassing the August 2020 LNU Lightning Complex (363,220), September 2020 Creek Fire (379,895) and the August 2020 SCU Lightning Complex (396,624) overnight.
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Only last year's August Complex (1,032,648) and the July 2018 Mendocino Complex (459,123) burned more acres in the state's history.
Plumas County Sheriff Todd Johns on Thursday night said the Dixie Fire, which is 35% contained, destroyed over 100 homes in and around Greenville on Wednesday. There have been no reported deaths, but Johns said four people remain unaccounted for. Approximately 900 people live in the town.
Now, fire crews have turned their attention to the town of Chester, located on the northwest edge of Lake Almanor. Over 2,000 residents have been evacuated, but CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Mike Wink said thousands of homes remain under threat.
Shifting wind conditions moved the blaze back toward Chester on Thursday night, after moving around the town earlier in the day.
CAL FIRE estimated that 13,871 total structures are threatened by the Dixie Fire, which might've been started by PG&E equipment and started burning near the site of the deadly 2018 Camp Fire. Evacuation orders are in place throughout Plumas, Butte, Lassen and Tehama counties, with officials urging people traveling in and around evacuated areas to consult egress route directions listed in evacuation notifications.
Related
Plumas County has a shelter set up at Springs of Hope Church in Quincy, opening another at Lassen Community College in Susanville after shutting down one in Chester.
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