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Clearer skies allow for air attack on Dixie Fire
WESTWOOD, Calif. — Thick smoke began to clear from the Dixie Fire on Monday, allowing firefighting aircraft to rejoin the battle to contain the largest single wildfire in California history.
More than two dozen helicopters and two air tankers that have been grounded are now able to make drops over the fire again.
With smoke clearing out above eastern portions of the fire, crews that had been directly attacking the front lines will likely be forced to retreat and build containment lines farther back, said Dan McKeague, a fire information officer from the U.S. Forest Service.
“With this kind of weather, fire activity will pick up. But the good thing is we can get aircraft up,” said fire spokesman Ryan Bain.
Winds are not expected to reach the same speeds that led to explosive growth last week, but they are cause for concern as firefighters work to protect thousands of homes still threatened.
Fueled by powerful gusts and bone-dry vegetation, the fire incinerated much of Greenville last Wednesday and Thursday, destroying 370 homes and structures and threatening nearly 14,000 buildings.
Damage reports are preliminary because assessment teams can’t get into many areas, officials said.
The Dixie Fire has burned 489,287 acres and is only 21% contained.
The blaze became the largest single fire in California’s recorded history, surpassing last year’s Creek Fire that tore through the Central Sierra.
The Dixie Fire is about half the size of the August Complex, which burned more than 1 million acres across seven Northstate counties last year. The complex of fires is considered the largest in California history.
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