California wildfire threatens towns

On Tuesday, strong winds blew the nation’s largest wildfire dangerously close to a California county seat and other mountain towns. With a population of about 18,000, Susanville is the largest town the Dixie Fire has threatened so far. As ash fell from the sky, the police department warned residents to prepare to evacuate. Bulldozers dug fire lines to slow the blaze, and nearby Janesville also received evacuation orders. Pacific Gas & Electric said it would shut off power to 51,000 customers through Wednesday afternoon in an effort to prevent wind gusts from damaging power lines and sparking fires.

How did the Dixie Fire start? Investigations have not yet determined a cause, but Pacific Gas and Electric suggested falling trees could have damaged their power lines, causing sparks that started the fire. The Dixie Fire has damaged more than 1,100 buildings, including 630 homes, and prompted numerous evacuation orders. Nearly 100 other major wildfires are burning the western United States.

Dig deeper: Listen to Sarah Schweinsberg’s report for The World And Everything in It podcast on rebuilding the town of Paradise, Calif., after a wildfire devastated it in 2018.