Fire in California: 2,000 new evacuations, a small town devastated
Steph Deschamps / August 5, 2021
A gigantic fire ravaged in the night of Wednesday to Thursday a locality of the north of California, a few hours after the authorities intimated to the inhabitants to evacuate in the approach of the blaze. Greenville, a small town of about 800 inhabitants in the north of the state, was engulfed by the flames of the Dixie Fire, a fire that has been ravaging California (western United States) for three weeks, fanned by a stifling heat, an alarming drought and continuous winds.
I'd say the majority of downtown Greenville is completely destroyed, tweeted fire photographer Stuart Palley, posting photos of the disaster. My heart is broken for this beautiful little town, he added.
Firefighters are fighting for the city of Greenville, Pandora Valle, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, told the San Fransisco Chronicle newspaper on Wednesday evening, without giving further details. Images taken by an AFP photographer show metal streetlights bent in half by the heat of the fire, and some rare structures still standing.
The fire reached Greenville at about 4 p.m. Wednesday (20:00 GMT), according to Jake Cagle, a section chief on the disaster management team. In a video released Wednesday night, he said firefighters were delayed by people not following orders to evacuate, forcing them to dedicate time and resources to help.
Some 2,000 California residents had been called Wednesday to evacuate their homes immediately as the Dixie Fire, California's largest fire this year, approaches. If you stayed, you should evacuate to the EAST, IMMEDIATELY! the Plumas Country Sheriff's Department had tweeted, addressing residents in the communities of Greenville and Chester.
If you are still in the Greenville area, you are in imminent danger and you MUST leave now! he had added in a second alert message, saying, If you stay, help may not be able to reach you.
The Dixie Fire has been raging in the forests of Northern California since mid-July, linked to the climate crisis, which is causing heat waves and drought around the world, especially in North America.