More than half of the 1,000 structures destroyed by the massive Dixie fire were single-family homes, the latest incident report shows. Containment improved to 30%, but the fire still grew in several directions Wednesday.
Environment
Posted inEnvironment
Former Santa Clara University instructor arrested in connection with ‘arson-setting spree’ near Dixie fire
Gary Stephen Maynard, 47 and a former instructor at Santa Clara University and Sonoma State, has been charged with willfully starting the Ranch fire and has been linked to at least six other blazes.
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More extreme behavior: Dixie blaze generates fire whirl, pyrocumulonimbus cloud at 40,000 feet
A massive storm cloud formed Monday night above the Dixie fire, generating a spinning vortex of flames and ash that soared into the sky. Containment improved to 25% on Tuesday, but the unusual activity was a reminder that “this fire still has a lot of potential.”
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A new Indigenous-led student movement in Northern California is protecting sacred waters
In the midst of the state’s water crisis, Native-led school curricula in Northern California are empowering youth to fight for the future of their waterways.
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The scary new climate report means fossil fuel use needs to start falling, fast
There’s a giant gap between what many companies have pledged and what’s actually needed.
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Exploding California wildfires rekindle debate: Snuff out blazes in wilderness areas or let them burn?
A U.S. Forest Service directive to put out fires in remote, roadless California forests has angered foresters and firefighters, who say doing so will put lives at risk and fuel worse fires in the future.
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Ways to save water during the drought — and whether it’s worth doing at all
Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking Californians to cut personal water usage by 15% some six years after Gov. Jerry Brown asked for a 25% reduction. Here are tips for how to do that — and facts about what difference they can make.
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As Dixie fire nears half a million acres, containment is still weeks away
More than 16,000 structures are still threatened by the fire, which authorities don’t expect to have under control until the end of August. The Dixie fire is one of 11 major fires burning across the state, according to Cal Fire.
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‘Not uncommon’ but little understood: Red tides have returned to Santa Cruz beaches — what to know?
Better known to scientists as harmful algal blooms, red tides can cause irritation of the eyes, ears or nose for those with certain conditions in those areas but are generally not harmful. And they do sometimes come with bioluminescence — waves glowing at night.
