Wildfire engulfs Northern California town

Authorities issued a mandatory fire evacuation order for Greenville, Calif., a town of about 800 people. On Wednesday, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office posted a warning on Facebook: “If you are still in the Greenville area, you are in imminent danger and you MUST leave now!!” On Wednesday evening, the Dixie Fire burned most of downtown and demolished at least 67 structures. U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., said Greenville is lost. No deaths or injuries had been reported by Thursday.

Are fires getting more severe? Dixie was 35 percent contained until it hopped firefighter perimeters on Tuesday, leading to evacuation orders for 15,000 more people. It created a 30,000-foot smoke column and now covers at least 428 square miles. The River Fire ignited on Wednesday, covering 1,400 acres in Nevada and California, only 100 miles away from Dixie, which is 280 miles northeast of San Francisco. An official at a Wednesday night briefing said wildfires are showing more “intense fire behavior” than what response teams normally see. The National Interagency Fire Center reported 97 large, active fires in 13 states.

Dig deeper: Read Charissa Koh’s report in Compassion on inmates battling wildfires in California.