"Neighborhood Is Gone": Before And After California's Monster Wildfire

As of Sunday, the fire had destroyed 489,287 acres (198,007 hectares), authorities said. It was then covering an area larger than Los Angeles.

Before one of California's worst-ever wildfires hit Greenville, the sky turned dark red like a warning. After the flames tore through the tiny town, all that remained was charred walls, ash and smoke. The horrific consequence of the Dixie Fire was captured by AFP in a series of before and after photos from the monster blaze that has consumed hundreds of structures and forced thousands to flee. "I watched in shock as a post office, fire station, bank, museum and countless other businesses were incinerated and reduced to smoldering piles of rubble," wrote AFP photographer Josh Edelson. "Dead animals lay on roadsides." He watched "firefighters make futile attempts to stop 350-foot (105-metre) high flames towering over them - saving a few homes and losing most."