…from Politico….
The Dixie Fire burning in two Northern California counties is now the largest single wildfire in recorded state history, exploding in size overnight as drought-stricken lands continue to fuel the flames.
The fire, which has burned for 23 days and forced mass evacuations, razed the Gold Rush town of Greenville on Thursday, destroying 91 buildings and damaging five others. Smoke from the blaze has blown to lower parts of Northern California, including the state capital of Sacramento where the air quality index on Friday reached “unhealthy” levels.
The troubling development reflects not just the dire effects of climate change and neglected forest management, but also that the electric grid remains prone to sparking wildfires. Pacific Gas & Electric disclosed last month that its equipment may have caused the catastrophic blaze.
The Dixie Fire is eerily similar to the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive blaze in state history — and sparked by PG&E. The two fires started less than 10 miles apart from each other in the Feather River Canyon, a heavily wooded area with decrepit transmission lines….
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By Friday morning, the Dixie Fire had burned 432,813 acres and was just 35 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The blaze’s overnight growth gave it the grim distinction of becoming the largest standalone fire in state history, but it still ranks behind two multi-fire conflagrations.
The lightning-ignited 2020 August Complex burned over 1 million acres in seven counties, and the 2018 Mendocino Complex burned more than 459,000 acres in four counties. The latter was infamously caused by a man trying to plug a wasp’s nest with a hammer and stake….