Photos: Heartbreaking images document a million acres burned already during this California fire season

Dixie fire

Firefighters clear away combustible material at the head of the Dixie fire near Janesville. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)

A pall of yellow smoke from the Dixie fire blankets the town of Susanville. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The Dixie fire burns in the mountains of Lassen County on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Part of an evergreen tree explodes into a ball of flame as the Dixie fire burns near Janesville on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

A crew battles the Dixie fire in harsh terrain near Janesville on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Firefighters watch a helicopter battle the Dixie fire as it burns through mountainous and forested terrain near Janesville on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The monstrous Dixie fire — the second-largest in the state’s recorded history — has been burning for more than a month, and the danger zone now stretches from Lassen to Butte.

A DC-10 jumbo jet drops fire retardant on the Dixie fire. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Caldor fire

The Caldor fire in El Dorado County is at nearly 63,000 acres, with 0% containment. Thousands of rural residents have had to evacuate as flames tore through rugged terrain.

The Caldor fire left a moonscape of burned forest, homes and cars in Grizzly Flats. ( Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The frame of a chair sits in the remains of a home in Grizzly Flats. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Burned trees surround a scorched intersection in the community of Grizzly Flats. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Dixie fire

Gould Fickardt, 71, left, and Woody Hovland, 70, sit with their dogs, Primer, right, and Sheva after their Greenville homes were destroyed. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Burned cars and scorched trees in Greenville. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Cache fire

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.