California's largest blaze, the Dixie Fire, is now burning at nearly a quarter-million acres destroying Meadow Valley as firefighters race to keep the flames from reaching the northeast of the town of Paradise, which was torched in 2018, killing 85 people.
At least 16,500 people have had to flee their homes recently as yet another massive wildfire continues to grow. The evacuations are becoming an unwelcome routine in a region still recovering from the 2018 Camp Fire, which left 85 people in Paradise dead and is recorded as the deadliest wildfire in Golden state history.
The Dixie Fire was burning nearly 241,000 acres, or about 375 square miles, Saturday morning and was only 24 per cent contained, according to the state's wildfire agency. It has destroyed at least 42 homes and threatens more than 10,000 others.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued several weeks ago in Butte County, California, as the Dixie Fire continued to grow explosively eastward.
The fire has become California's largest so far this year but has stayed within a perimeter the firecrew has built.
California's largest blaze, the Dixie Fire, is now burning at nearly a quarter-million acres destroying Meadow Valley as firefighters race to keep the flames from reaching the northeast of the town of Paradise, which was torched in 2018, killing 85 people. Pictured: The US Forest Service performs a prescribed burn using incendiary balls dropped from a helicopter in Meadow Valley
Dixie Fire continues to destroy North California as it burns the trees near Taylorsville, California on July 29
Meadow Valley Fire Department's vehicle works to maintain the Dixie Fire 18 days into the destruction
The US Forest Service performs a prescribed burn using incendiary balls dropped from a helicopter in Meadow Valley on July 31
The Dixie Fire continues to burn near Taylorsville, California on July 29
The Dixie Fire began on July 13, and has is currently California's largest active fire (July 29)
Firecrews have been able to contain only 24 per cent of the flames as the fire burns in Northern California (July 29)
16,500 people have been evacuated from their homes recently as yet another massive wildfire continues to grow in the west
Firefighters have had success holding the flames back from Paradise as the town struggles to recover from the 2018 destruction. Most of the flames consuming fields of dried vegetation continued to stay within the lines created by fire crews to contain the blaze.
'There's nothing close to our line right now. It's all interior fuels burning,' Mike Wink, an incident commander, said in an online briefing.
Last week, the Dixie Fire fused with the nearby Fly Fire and leveled dozens of
