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Dixie Fire: Evacuations ordered near Susanville as blaze tops 600K acres
More evacuation orders have been issued this week as crews continue to battle the massive Dixie Fire in Northern California.
Firefighters faced more dangerously windy weather Tuesday, and forecasters issued red flag warnings of critical fire weather conditions including gusts up to 40 mph from late morning to near midnight.
Winds spawned by a new weather system arrived Monday afternoon and pushed the month-old fire within a few miles of Susanville, population about 18,000, and prompted evacuation orders for the small nearby mountain community of Janesville, fire officials said.
Meanwhile, the Plumas County Sheriff's Office said that 43 people who were previously unaccounted for had been determined as safe, while there were still three people reported missing from Greenville and one from Chester.
As of Tuesday, the fire had burned 604,511 acres and was 31% contained, according to Cal Fire.
The Dixie Fire is now the second-largest fire in California history. It has charred an area larger than the city of Los Angeles and destroyed at least 1,180 structures.
Roughly 16,000 structures remain threatened by the blaze, Cal Fire said. Nearly 6,000 personnel are helping battle the fire.
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Dixie Fire battle
The west end of the fire
Cal Fire said that a "significant change" in the weather pattern happened Monday, resulting in southwest winds ranging from 15 to 25 mph.
More evacuation orders and warnings were issued Monday in Lassen County.
The east end of the fire
Cal Fire said that control lines at Keddie Point and into the North Arm of Indian Valley are holding and will continue to be patrolled.
Crews have been dealing with several spot fires in the east zone of the blaze.
Fire timeline
The blaze sparked July 13 north of the Cresta Dam, which is not far from where the 2018 Camp Fire northeast of Paradise claimed the lives of more than 80 people.
The fire had already leveled more than a dozen houses and other structures when it combined with the Fly Fire and tore through the tiny community of Indian Falls in late July. The Plumas County sheriff said more than 100 homes in the Indian Falls and surrounding areas were reported destroyed.
On Aug. 4, the fire nearly obliterated the town of Greenville, which dates back to California's Gold Rush era and has some structures more than a century old.
| VIDEO BELOW | Dixie Fire rages in Greenville
California has secured a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help battle the wildfire, Gov. Gavin Newsom's office announced.
| RELATED | These are California's top 10 largest fires in state history
Dixie Fire evacuation order information
Butte County
Lassen County
Plumas County
Tehama County
Road closures
Click here for up-to-date state highway information
Shelter information
- Springs of Hope Church at 59 Bell Lane in Quincy
- Holy Family Catholic Church at 108 Taylor Ave. in Portola
- Lassen Community College at 478-200 CA-139 in Susanville
American Red Cross Public Information Line: 855-755-7711
PG&E equipment may be involved in Dixie Fire start
Pacific Gas & Electric reported to California utility regulators that its equipment may have been involved in the start of the Dixie Fire.
The utility said in a filing in July that a repair person responding to a circuit outage on July 13 spotted blown fuses in a conductor atop a pole, a tree leaning into the conductor and fire at the base of the tree.
PG&E equipment has repeatedly been linked to major wildfires, including the 2018 fire that ravaged the town of Paradise.
| RELATED | PG&E equipment investigated as cause of Fly Fire in Plumas County
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