LA Times photographer captures the devastation of the Dixie fire

With each passing mile, the smoke from the Dixie fire got thicker and thicker as I drove up Highway 89 in Plumas County. Visibility was decreasing at a steady pace to no more than 10 feet in front of me once I reached my destination of Greenville. If you have ever looked out of the window of a jetliner as it graces the clouds, that’s what it felt like, except I was the pilot this time without any instrument training. My only thought was, if I drive slow enough, I can hopefully react quick enough to limit the damage if I hit something or someone.

I made it safely. Once I got out of the car, the smell of an ashtray filled to the brim filled my nose. This was one town I was sure of where nobody on this day was anti-mask.

The smoke that hung in the air made it impossible to immediately see how decimated the town was. As I walked in, seeing structure after structure burned to the ground, the terrible reality set in. And all those once-beautiful trees are completely scorched. The only thing — it seemed to me — that was still green in Greenville is the name itself.

Greenville residents Gould Fickardt, 71, left, and Woody Hovland, 70, sit with their dogs, Primer, right, and Sheva outside a friend’s home. Fickhardt owns the Way Station bar and apartments, which have burned. Hovland’s home was destroyed. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Deer, searching for food, make their way past scorched trees along Main Street in Greenville, Calif. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Horses graze in a field off North Valley Road. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Street signs in Greenville melted from the extreme temperature. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Smoke from the Dixie Fire engulfs the town of Greenville. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Jaime Crane, an inspector with Cal Fire Shasta Trinity Unit, walks through residential remains documenting the material that the roofs were made of. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Burned trees rise above a truck destroyed by the Dixie fire. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Kelly Tan, 59, left, looks on as her sister, Tiffany Lozano, 44, photographs melted street signs on Main Street in Greenville. Lozano is a resident of nearby Quincy and Tan is a resident of nearby Taylorsville. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Scorched trees are all that’s left standing in this section of town. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Clouds of smoke loom over the rubble of homes and cars. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

A water drop is made as the Dixie fire continues to burn near Greenville. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Photo editing by Jacob Moscovitch.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.