(ETH) – A three-week-old wildfire engulfed a Northern California mountain town, leaving much of the downtown in ashes, while a new wind-whipped blaze also destroyed homes as crews braced for another explosive run of flames Thursday in the midst of dangerous weather according to the latest report from CBS News.
The Dixie Fire, swollen by bone-dry vegetation and 40 mph gusts, raged through the northern Sierra Nevada town of Greenville on Wednesday evening. A gas station, hotel, and bar were among many fixtures gutted in the town, which dates to California’s Gold Rush era and has some structures more than a century old.
It wasn’t immediately known how many buildings were demolished, but photos and video from the scene indicate the destruction was widespread. “We lost Greenville tonight,” Representative Doug LaMalfa, who represents the area in Congress, said in a video posted to Facebook, adding that other towns in the region were also threatened by the blaze, known as the Dixie Fire.
According to the NYT, The fire is the largest in California this year and the sixth-largest on record in the state, burning more than 322,000 acres, and was only 35 percent contained by Thursday morning. At least 45 structures have been burned since it started on July 14. Its cause remains under investigation, and there have been no reported fatalities.
Acording to the SFG, about 3,400 structures are threatened, with half in the Colfax area, and more than 6,000 people were evacuated in Placer and Nevada counties. “Very surreal seeing the damage from the #RiverFire in Colfax off the 25000 block of Pine View Drive,” ABC News reporter Lena Howland wrote on Twitter. “Homes in every direction on the end of this road have been reduced to rubble, power lines down and we’re still seeing active flames.”
