Dixie Fire

Dixie Fire
A pyrocumulus cloud rising from the Dixie Fire, looking east from a country road north of Chico on the evening of July 22, 2021
Date(s)
  • July 13 (13-07) –
  • October 25, 2021 (2021-10-25)
  • (105 days)
Location
Coordinates39°49′08″N 121°25′08″W / 39.819°N 121.419°W / 39.819; -121.419
Statistics[1][2]
Burned area963,309 acres
1,505 square miles
3,898 square kilometres
389,837 hectares
Impacts
Deaths
  • 1 firefighter
  • 0 civilians
Non-fatal injuries3 firefighters
Evacuated>9,500
Structures destroyed
  • 1,329 destroyed
  • 95 damaged
Damage$1.15 billion USD (minimum estimate)[3]
Ignition
CauseTree falling on power distribution line
Perpetrator(s)Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)
Map
The Dixie Fire burned through large parts of Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest, and Lassen Volcanic National Park
The Dixie Fire burned through large parts of Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest, and Lassen Volcanic National Park
Dixie Fire is located in California
Dixie Fire
Location in Northern California

The 2021 Dixie Fire was an enormous wildfire in Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta, and Tehama counties in Northern California.[4] Named after a nearby Dixie Road,[5] the fire began in the Feather River Canyon near Cresta Dam in Butte County on July 13, 2021, and burned 963,309 acres (389,837 ha) before it was declared 100 percent contained on October 25, 2021.[6] It was the largest single source wildfire (as compared to a complex wildfire, with multiple ignition points) in recorded California history, and the second-largest wildfire overall (after the August Complex fire of 2020),[7][8] The fire damaged or destroyed several communities, including Greenville on August 4, Canyondam on August 5, and Warner Valley on August 12.[9]

The Dixie Fire was the largest and most destructive fire of the 2021 California wildfire season. It was the first fire known to have burned across the crest of the Sierra Nevada (followed by the Caldor Fire later in the season).[10][11] Smoke from the Dixie Fire caused unhealthy air quality across the Western United States,[12] including states as far east as Utah and Colorado.[13][14][15] The Dixie Fire was the most expensive wildfire (measured by cost of the firefighting effort) in United States history, costing $637.4 million to suppress.[16]

  1. ^ "CAL FIRE Investigators Determine Cause of the Dixie Fire" (PDF) (Press release). Butte County: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 4 January 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Dixie Fire (CA) Information". CAL FIRE. September 21, 2021. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  3. ^ Kasler, Dale (3 November 2021). "PG&E says Dixie Fire will cost $1.15 billion – and is being probed by federal officials". The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference top20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cowan, Jill; Stevens, Matt (2021-08-06). "How do wildfires get their names?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-03-17. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  6. ^ "Dixie Fire". www.fire.ca.gov. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  7. ^ Colby Bermel (August 6, 2021). "Dixie Fire becomes largest single wildfire in California history". Politico. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  8. ^ "Aircraft help fight California wildfire as smoke clears" Archived 2021-08-11 at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press, August 9, 2021.
  9. ^ "California's Dixie Fire demolishes two mountain communities". CBS News. August 6, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Firozi_20210821 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Scott Reinhard; Jugal K. Patel (September 6, 2021). "Caldor Fire's March to the Edge of South Lake Tahoe". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference usatoday20210808 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference sltrib20210807 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference kuer20210806 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference usnews20210807 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Alexander, Kurtis (2022-03-18). "Last year's fire season in California set record for cost, Dixie Fire most expensive in U.S. history". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2022-03-20.