当地时间8月8日，仍在持续肆虐的美国加利福尼亚州北部的“迪克西大火”现已成为美国历史上第二大山林野火，数以千计的人持续撤离受野火威胁地区。
加利福尼亚州森林及防火局提供的数据显示，这场从7月13日开始烧起，并跨越比尤特、普卢马斯、拉森和特哈马县的“迪克西大火”至今已烧毁超过1800平方公里的土地。此外，8日的火情与7日相比丝毫没有减弱，仍然只有21%的火势得到控制。
据法新社报道，截至8日早晨，被烧毁面积已从前一天的181,327平方公里扩大到187,708平方公里，过火面积比洛杉矶面积还大，相当于夏威夷的毛伊岛。
The monstrous Dixie Fire in northern California has grown to become the second-largest wildfire in state history, authorities said on Sunday.
The Dixie blaze, which on Saturday left three firefighters injured, remained 21 percent contained Sunday, unchanged from the day before, the CalFire website reported.
As of Sunday, the fire had destroyed 463,477 acres (187,708 hectares), up from the previous day's 447,723 acres (181,327 hectares). It now covers an area larger than Los Angeles, according to AFP.
“迪克西大火”目前是全美最大的活跃野火，但仅是加州11场主要野火之一。官员们表示，这场火灾威胁着近14000座建筑物，并且已经摧毁了400多座建筑物，其中包括格林维尔市中心几乎全部建筑。上周三晚上（8月3日），“迪克西大火”蔓延至内华达山脉北部，“吞噬”了已有150年历史的淘金小镇格林维尔镇。据悉，这个800人居住的小镇所有建筑都被烧毁，灯柱熔化。消防员表示，在刚过去的周末，这场火灾已经超过2018年的“门多西诺综合大火”，成为加州史上第二严重野火，仅次于2020年8月的“8月综合大火”。此外，消防队估计在8月20日之前，这场从7月13日开始烧起的山火无法被完全扑灭。The Dixie blaze is the largest active wildfire in the United States but one of only 11 major wildfires in California.The Dixie Fire has already destroyed about 400 structures – gutting Greenville – and CalFire said workers and equipment were being deployed to save homes in the small town of Crescent Mills, five kilometers southeast of Greenville.Over the weekend, it surpassed the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire to make it the second-worst fire in state history.Crews estimate the fire, which began July 13, will not finally be extinguished for two weeks.
目前超过5000名人员正与这场野火搏斗，巨大浓烟直窜天际。在一些地区，浓烟使消防人员靠近火源进行扑灭变得异常困难。虽然弱风和更高湿度为消防员提供了一些帮助，但他们正在为未来几天超过38摄氏度的高温做准备，届时灭火工作将更难、更有挑战。科学家也警告，气候变化导致的长期干旱使美国西部和加拿大的大部分地区都处于干旱状态——并且容易受到爆炸性和极具破坏性的火灾的影响。目前，“迪克西大火”的发生原因还在继续调查之中。太平洋天然气和电力公司曾承认，一棵大树压倒了该公司一个输电线路，可能触发了大火。Weak winds and higher humidity have provided some succor to firefighters, but they are bracing for higher temperatures expected to exceed 38 degrees Celsius in the coming days.Heavy smoke was making driving hazardous for fire crews in some areas, and steep trails also made access difficult.More than 5,000 personnel are now battling the Dixie blaze.A long-term drought that scientists say is driven by climate change has left much of the western United States and Canada parched - and vulnerable to explosive and highly destructive fires.A preliminary investigation has suggested the Dixie Fire was started when a tree fell on a power cable owned by regional utility Pacific Gas & Company (PG&E), a private operator that was earlier blamed for the Camp Fire in 2018, which killed 86 people.