Dixie Fire
The 2021 Dixie Fire was an enormous wildfire in Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta, and Tehama counties in Northern California. Named after a nearby Dixie Road, 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. 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), The fire damaged or destroyed several communities, including Greenville on August 4, Canyondam on August 5, and Warner Valley on August 12.
| 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 | |
| Location | Northern California |
| Coordinates | 39.819°N 121.419°W |
| Statistics | |
| Cost | $1.15 billion USD (minimum estimate) |
| Date(s) | July 13 – October 25, 2021 |
| Burned area | 963,309 acres 1,505 square miles 3,898 square kilometres 389,837 hectares |
| Cause | Tree falling on power distribution line |
| Buildings destroyed |
|
| Deaths |
|
| Non-fatal injuries | 3 firefighters |
| Evacuated | >9,500 |
| Perpetrator(s) | Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) |
| Map | |
Location in Northern California | |
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). Smoke from the Dixie Fire caused unhealthy air quality across the Western United States, including states as far east as Utah and Colorado. 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.