Climate Adaptation
California’s Dixie Fire Burns Clear Across a Mountain Range
- Fire becomes first in state history to crest the Sierra Nevada
- Blaze ‘extremely resistant’ to firefighters’ efforts: CalFire
The Dixie Fire burns along Highway 395 near Milford, California, on Aug. 17.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
California’s Dixie Fire has achieved a staggering distinction by becoming the first wildfire in history to burn clear across the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
It’s the first known fire to start in the range’s western foothills, burn up and over the crest and then descend into the eastern valleys, said Thom Porter, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.