According to data from Cal Fire, as of Monday, the Dixie Fire has burnt 569,707 acres and is currently 31 percent contained. Since it was first reported on July 14, the Dixie Fire has continued to grow in size. Just last week, data from Cal Fire showed the fire had burned at least 501,008 acres.
In a Cal Fire update for the Dixie Fire’s West zone, officials said that “Today, critical fire weather conditions exist.”
“There is an anticipated wind event that will occur today over the fire area. Temperatures will be in the triple digits and winds are forecast to be WSW at 22 mph with gusts up to 30 mph,” the update said. “Damage assessment is ongoing, and the number of damaged and destroyed structures may change as teams are able to access the fire area safely.”
The Dixie Fire, which is burning across four different counties in California, recently became the second largest fire in state history, trailing only to the 2020 August Complex Fire, which burned over 1 million acres.
According to data from Cal Fire, the Dixie Fire has damaged at least 80 structures while 1,173 other structures have been destroyed.
In addition to Cal Fire officials, the National Weather Service in parts of California also warned that triple digit temperatures were expected in the coming days.
“Today is forecast to be hot! Widespread triple digit heat is expected. Starting tomorrow, temperatures lower to near seasonal averages and will likely remain about average through the weekend,” the National Weather Service in Sacramento said in a tweet.
On Sunday, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles reported that record-breaking temperatures were seen in Sandberg while temperatures in Palmdale and Lancaster “both came a degree short of their records.”
While previously speaking with Newsweek, Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Los Angeles, said he expected the fire to burn for several more months.
“It’s very unlikely that this fire will be contained before the winter rains and snows arrive,” Swain previously told Newsweek, “and that has been the case really ever since this fire made it to a couple 100,000 acres.”
As evacuations continue to be announced, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said last Friday that 43 individuals that were previously unaccounted for have been found. “Search efforts continue for four unaccounted residents,” the sheriff’s office said.
In addition to the Dixie Fire, data from the National Interagency Fire Center showed that California is also battling nine other active wildfires.
