Dixie Fire explodes to largest single fire in California history

San Francisco, August 9 (RHC)-- In Northern California, the Dixie Fire exploded in size over the weekend to become the largest single fire in California history — with a half-million acres burned. 

On Saturday, California Governor Gavin Newsom toured Greenville, a Gold Rush-era town north of
Sacramento, its downtown almost completely destroyed by the Dixie Fire.  The governor told reporters: "The extreme weather conditions, extreme droughts are leading to extreme conditions and wildfire challenges the likes of which we’ve never seen in our history.  And as a consequence, we need to acknowledge, just straight up, these are climate-induced wildfires.”

There are 11 major wildfires now raging across California, and over 100 fires across 15 states — with more than 2 million acres burned.   Over the weekend, Denver, Colorado, experienced the poorest air quality of any big city in the world as smoke from western fires filled the sky with a thick, yellow-brown haze.

Meanwhile, fires continue to rage across Southern Europe, which is in a protracted heat wave. In Greece, thousands of people fled their homes on the island of Evia, some of them escaping aboard Coast Guard ships, as a massive wildfire turned the night sky red.