Before California has even entered peak fire season, the state has already passed a grim milestone: more than 1 million acres burned.
A dozen large wildfires — including the monstrous Dixie fire and the destructive Caldor fire — as well as numerous smaller ones continue to char the landscape and turn thousands of residents into refugees.
Several fires remain at minimal containment days and even weeks after igniting, spurred by hot, dry conditions that have parched vegetation and primed it to burn — often at rapid speed. After igniting more than a month ago, the massive, multicounty Dixie fire was only 35% contained Thursday morning.
New fires seem to crop up almost daily. A pair of blazes — the Cache fire in Lake County and the French fire in Kern County — both erupted Wednesday, forcing swift evacuations. The Cache fire had burned 80 acres and was 20% contained Thursday morning, while the French fire had swelled to 3,223 acres with no containment, fire officials said.
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