Story at a glance
- The wildfire burning northeast of San Francisco has torn through 489,287 acres and is just 21 percent contained.
- The blaze destroyed hundreds of structures and devastated the historic mountain town of Greenville last week.
- At least three firefighters have been injured.
Firefighters are working to contain the massive blaze raging in northern California that is now the second-largest wildfire recorded in the state’s history.
The wildfire burning northeast of San Francisco has torn through 489,287 acres since it was first sparked in mid-July and is just 21 percent contained as of Monday, forcing thousands of residents in the area to evacuate their homes, according to Cal Fire.
The blaze destroyed hundreds of structures and devastated the historic mountain town of Greenville last week. The fire continues to threaten nearly 14,000 homes and structures.
More than 5,000 firefighters are working to tackle the fire and at least three have been injured, according to Cal Fire. No deaths have been reported but at least eight people are missing, according to Reuters.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) visited the charred remains of the small mountain town Saturday, and attributed the increased severity of recent wildfires to climate change. Much of the western U.S. has been in the throes of unprecedented drought.
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“The dries are getting a lot drier and the heat and hot weather is a lot hotter than it’s ever been,” he said.
“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. And we have to acknowledge we have the capacity in this country, not just the state, to solve this,” he said.
The blaze is second in size only to last year’s August Complex fire, a series of lightning-caused fires that burned more than 1 million acres across eight counties. The state is currently on pace to see more burnt acreage this season compared with last year, which was the worst wildfire season recorded.
The cause of the wildfire is still under investigation.
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