Many were battling to protect more than a dozen small mountain and rural communities in the northern Sierra Nevada. The Dixie Fire was the largest wildfire burning in the U.S. Nearly a quarter of all firefighters assigned to Western fires are fighting California blazes, said Rocky Oplinger, an incident commander. Heat waves and historic drought tied to climate change have made wildfires harder to fight in the American West. The fires across the West come as parts of Europe are also fighting large blazes spurred by tinder-dry conditions. South of the Dixie Fire, firefighters prevented further growth of the River Fire, which broke out Wednesday near the community of Colfax and destroyed 68 homes.

Source: ABC News August 10, 2021 04:30 UTC