At least eight people have been reported missing as a massive wildfire rages over northern California, devastating hundreds of houses and torching entire communities while firefighters battle the flames.
The Plumas County Sheriff's Office announced that it had received reports of "eight unaccounted-for individuals" tied to the Dixie Fire, which has now extended to 698 square miles and is just 21% contained.
The burned area is now larger than Houston.
According to officials, the fire is threatening over 14,000 properties and has already destroyed more than 400, including nearly all of downtown Greenville, a historic mining town approximately 160 miles north of Sacramento.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated. Pacific Gas & Electric said it may have started when a tree fell on one of the utility's electrical lines.
A federal judge ordered PG&E to disclose information on the equipment and vegetation that ignited the fire by Aug. 16.
California's fire season is on track to outperform last year's, which was the worst in the state's recent documented history.
Currently, 11 major wildfires are raging across California. Rescue workers are braced for temperatures of up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the coming days.
The Dixie Fire began on July 13 and has since destroyed over 187,369 hectares. It is only second in scale to last year's August Complex fire, which burnt over 1 million acres.
The Dixie Fire is, currently, being fought by about 5,000 firefighters.
"We're seeing fire activity that even veteran firefighters haven't seen in their career," Edwin Zuniga, a spokesman for Cal Fire told the Washington Post.
"So we're just in really uncharted territory," he said.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, wildfires are raging in 15 states throughout the country. There are over 107 big fires that have scorched over two million acres. It forecasted a high risk of significant wildfire activity in the western United States for the rest of the summer and into the fall.
"We need to acknowledge just straight up these are climate-induced wildfires," California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Saturday.
Climate change increases the likelihood of hot, dry weather, which fuels wildfires.
