At least 8 missing as historic California wildfire rages

The Dixie Fire in northern California has now spread over 1,807 square kilometres and is just 21 percent contained.

At least eight people have been reported missing as an historic wildfire continues to rip through northern California, destroying hundreds of homes and incinerating entire communities as firefighters seek to contain the blaze. The Pulmas County Sheriff’s Office said on Saturday that it had received reports of “eight unaccounted for individuals” related to the Dixie Fire, which has now spread to an area of 1,807 square kilometres (698 square miles) and is just 21 percent contained. Five of the missing belong to the old mining town of Greenville, about 257km (160 miles) north of Sacramento, where flames levelled most of its downtown on Thursday and Friday, destroying 268 homes and structures and threatening nearly 14,000 buildings in the northern Sierra Nevada.