Wildfire updates: Dixie Fire tops 500k acres as crews prepare for weather change

The Dixie Fire, the second-largest wildfire in California history, slowed slightly through the beginning of the week, providing a much needed respite for crews that have battled the blaze for nearly a month.

A layer of smoke has sat on top of the fire since the weekend, helping to suppress its growth and keep winds at bay. But even with the mild weather, the fire swelled to over 500,000 acres Wednesday morning, and new estimates show it has destroyed over 1,000 buildings.

Officials are warning crews to take advantage of the weather, as high pressure thunderstorms may enter the region later in the week and whip up the blaze to levels similar to last week, when the fire grew 110,000 acres in a single day.

“Looking ahead, we are going to see a change in our weather pattern,” said an incident meteorologist at the scene Wednesday morning. “We’re going to get out of this stagnant air mass.”

According to Cal Fire’s morning incident report, the blaze has charred 501,008 acres (782 square miles) in Butte, Plumas, Tehama and Lassen counties. This marked a nearly 20,000-acre increase from Tuesday’s estimate, even despite the less aggressive fire weather patterns.

“Low humidity recoveries allowed the fire to continue to burn all night long,” said Cal Fire behavior analyst Brian Newman in a Wednesday morning incident briefing. “Not necessarily really aggressive, but it was still allowing it to burn.”

Firefighters were able to increased containment to 30% Wednesday morning, up eight percentage points from the day before. Nearly the entirety of the southern portion of the blaze is now secured behind fire lines.

The Dixie Fire has so far destroyed 1,045 buildings and damaged 69. As of Wednesday, 14,999 homes and businesses remain threatened, marking a decrease from Tuesday’s estimate.

Last Wednesday, the fire tore through Greenville, destroying most of the Northern California town. Canyondam was also burned on Thursday. The Plumas County Sheriff’s Office originally reported 31 people to be missing from the Greenville area after the fire burned through. But as of Monday morning, a spokeswoman from the Sheriff’s Office told The Bee that all 31 people were found.

Many areas near the fire remain under evacuation orders. Plumas County residents from the county’s northwestern edge nearly to Quincy are evacuated. The northeastern tip of Butte County and the far eastern edge of Tehama County are also under mandatory evacuation orders. Local officials have an online map available with more details on evacuation orders and warnings.

A total of 6,092 fire personnel are assigned to the Dixie Fire, plus 20 helicopters and 502 engines. Three firefighters have been injured, according to Cal Fire’s morning update.

The official cause of the Dixie Fire is still under investigation, but just a few days after the fire started on July 14, PG&E released a report suggesting that its equipment may have sparked the fire. On Saturday, The Bay Area News Group reported that a federal judge asked PG&E to explain the utility’s role in the Dixie Fire. But on Monday, PG&E released an additional report saying that they had found no fault with the power lines that allegedly could have began the Dixie Fire.

River Fire

The River Fire exploded nearly a week ago on the border of Placer and Nevada Counties, near the city of Colfax. But after its initial rapid expansion forced thousands to evacuate, the fire slowed into the weekend and appears to be on the brink of full containment.

In a Tuesday evening incident update, Cal Fire reported the blaze to be 2,619 acres and 85% contained. Containment increased by 7 percentage points through the day Tuesday as the fire grew minimally.

The fire has destroyed 88 structures, 66 of which were homes. Much of the destruction came in the Chicago Park neighborhood near Colfax, which the fire hit during its initial rapid expansion.

Two civilian injuries and one firefighter injury were also reported during the blaze’s early hours.

Into Wednesday, all evacuation orders and warnings have been lifted in the area. Crews turned their attention Tuesday to mopping up areas of the fire that are still smoldering.

“Firefighters continued work to strengthen containment lines around homes and move further into the interior of the fire to check for any hot spots on the River Fire today and prevented it from increasing in acreage,” said Cal Fire’s evening incident report. “Ground resources and crews will continue tactical patrols around all areas of the fire while mopping up remaining hot spots.”

Cal Fire expects the River Fire to hit full containment by Friday.

Trinity County wildfires

A lightning storm began a series of fires in Trinity County in late July. Of those, two have ballooned into large-scale wildfires: the Monument Fire and the McFarland Fire.

The Monument Fire began near the town of Del Loma two weeks ago, and has since grown to 62,490 acres with 3% containment. The fire expanded about 4,500 acres in the last 24 hours, marking a moderate improvement from previously explosive growth.

The fire is burning squarely within Trinity County. The blaze has prompted evacuation orders for Del Loma, Big Bar, Junction City and other surrounding areas. On Monday, the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office expanded the evacuation order to include the town of Burnt Ranch.

Although the U.S. Forest Service reported “favorable” weather conditions through the night, officials predict that deteriorating weather could allow the fire to flare up significantly. The fire exhibited large amounts of spotting in its early days, and crews are still contending with multiple large spot fires near Junction City and Burnt Ranch.

“The fuels are poised and ready to burn when wind and topographical features align,” the U.S. Forest Service wrote in its Wednesday morning incident report. “When that happens we anticipate fast moving uphill runs and long-range spotting. As more resources arrive, fire managers will prioritize them to be ready to battle the fire with a quick, aggressive attack if fire spots across containment lines.”

The McFarland Fire has charred 35,709 acres south of the town of Wildwood, on the border of Shasta, Trinity and Tehama counties. It is 47% contained.

The fire’s growth slowed significantly in the early part of the week. Crews increased containment by 14 percentage points between Tuesday and Wednesday while keeping expansion under 2,500 acres.

All evacuation orders for the McFarland Fire have been lifted. Part of highway 36 remains closed, and some areas, including the town of Wildwood, remain under an evacuation warning.

Six firefighters were injured Friday fighting the blaze. All are expected to fully recover.

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency for Shasta and Trinity counties Tuesday morning due to the ongoing fires. The McFarland and Monument fires are the eighth and ninth blazes that have caused Newsom to issue an emergency order this year.

This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Wildfire updates: Dixie Fire tops 500k acres as crews prepare for weather change."