Dixie Fire enters Greenville, leveling businesses and homes, California

A huge wildfire raging in northern California entered the small community of Greenville on August 4, 2021, leveling down homes and businesses.

The fire has leveled much of the downtown and some surrounding homes, AP reports. Their photographer described seeing a gas station, hotel and bar burned to the ground.

Jake Cagle, incident management team operations section chief, said some residents did not heed the evacuation order, and firefighters were getting them out of harm's way instead of being able to focus on defending structures.

"This is a big problem that we're having – these are not the normal fires anymore," he said, and emphasized that people need to obey evacuation orders.

"It's just intense fire behavior, and it's not what we're used to," Cagle said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or casualties.

The Dixie Fire is burning in Plumas and Butte counties since July 14 and at 112 500 ha (278 000 acres) is currently the largest wildfire in California. It has so far destroyed at least 67 structures and is only 35% contained.

As of August 4, it's the eighth-largest wildfire in California's recorded history.

Featured image: KPIX CBS SF Bay Area (stillshot)