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Dixie Fire erupted over 97,000 acres in 24 hours, making it the third largest fire. Forest fire It broke records in California on Friday. It was sixth on the flames list the day before.

fire, which leveled This week, the northern California town of Greenville burned 432,813 acres by Friday morning, making it the largest fire in the United States this year, according to The New York Times. forest fire tracker.

It has destroyed at least 91 structures so far, and it looks like it will only grow with 35 percent of the fire under control.

Oregon’s Bootleg Fire had previously been the largest wildfire in the country this year at 413,765 acres. 87 percent of the fire was under control.

Experts say the Dixie Fire’s dramatic growth matches the trend of rapidly expanding fires fueled by severe drought conditions driven in part by a warming climate.

“The number of fires hasn’t increased, but the amount of burning areas in California has more than doubled since the 1980s,” said researcher Robert Field of Columbia University and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Fire season has also started earlier in recent years. The Dixie Fire ignited on July 13, about two weeks before the state typically experiences its busiest fires.

“We are approaching historic fire levels not seen in over 100 years at this explosive growth rate,” said Tim Jones, a public information officer for agencies fighting the Dixie Fire.

Seven of California’s largest wildfires have occurred in the past year. The largest in the state’s recorded history – going back to 1932, because records prior to this are considered unreliable – it burned down last August when a series of dry lightning strikes ignited multiple fires that combined to scorch a million acres.

Dr. “There is a lot more fuel in the landscape and it has become more flammable due to climate change,” Field said.

Firefighters see little signs of improving conditions.

“We seem to have crossed some kind of threshold and we’re seeing more and more extreme events,” said Jennifer Balch, who directs the Earth Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder. I think I was preparing myself this year.”