Thousands flee Dixie Fire in California as it races toward Paradise

Thousands of Californians have been forced to evacuate their homes as the state’s largest wildfire this year tore through nearly a quarter-million acres of property, authorities said.

The blaze, known as the Dixie Wildfire, has at least 4,000 people under evacuation orders as it raged in the mountains in Butte and Plumas counties, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. More than 244,000 acres in the region have been scorched by the fire since it was sparked in the Fremont-Winema National Forest on July 6, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.