Roughly 48,000 customers in Northern California could lose power Tuesday night, the utility said, as forecasts called for fierce winds of up to 50 mph that could topple trees into energized power lines were forecast.
Alex Wigglesworth
Posted inEnvironment
PG&E threatens power shutoffs as Dixie fire rages in Northern California
Strong winds are expected to plague the Dixie fire burn area, which has exploded to nearly 570,000 acres in Northern California. PG&E has said its equipment might have sparked the Dixie blaze, which is the second-largest fire in state history.
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Dixie fire, now the second-largest in California history, has burned more than 400 structures
The Dixie fire, now the second-largest blaze in state history, has burned more than 463,000 acres and destroyed more than 400 buildings.
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As Dixie fire tears through communities, some refuse evacuation orders with guns in hand
One challenge for fire crews in Plumas County is residents who won’t leave their property, forcing firefighters to take risks on their behalf.
Posted inEnvironment
‘We knew there was no saving it’: Gold Rush-era town gone, leaving broken hearts, broken dreams
Greenville, a Gold Rush town dating to the 19th century, rebuilt after an 1881 fire. Now it has been destroyed by the Dixie fire, California’s largest this year.
Posted inEnvironment
Firefighters face unprecedented conditions as they try to save towns from Dixie fire
Officials say a perfect storm of conditions — the heat, the dry fuels, the drought, the wind, the slope — has driven the Dixie fire’s rapid spread. “There were places where we couldn’t even get a hose because we couldn’t get an engine anywhere near where the fire was,” one said, “so it was all hand tools and that kind of stuff.”
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Overwhelmed firefighters battle to save California communities, assess mass destruction
Another day of dangerous winds is on tap as the Dixie fire continues to grow and the River fire burns homes north of Sacramento.
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California fires are burning faster, hotter, more intensely — and getting harder to fight
The dryness of the vegetation, primed by both long-term drought and shorter-term heat waves, is making it easy for fires to ignite and even easier for them to spread.
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California wildfire generates its own lightning as it more than doubles in size
Fueled by a heat wave that exacerbated already hot, dry conditions, the Sugar fire made a huge run Friday, triggering new evacuations for portions of Plumas and Lassen counties.
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He had 10 minutes to flee the Salt fire. Now his home is gone
Authorities announced Saturday that the Salt fire had destroyed at least 27 homes and 14 outbuildings.