Nearly 900 buildings destroyed by massive California fire

GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) — California's largest single wildfire in recorded history kept pushing through forestlands on Tuesday as fire crews tried to protect rural communities from flames that have destroyed hundreds of homes.

Clear skies over parts of the month-old Dixie Fire have allowed aircraft to rejoin nearly 6,000 firefighters in the attack this week.

“Whether or not we can fly depends very much on where the smoke is. There's still some areas where it's just too smoky,” said fire spokesman Edwin Zuniga.

Burning through bone-dry trees, brush and grass, the fire by Tuesday had destroyed nearly 900 homes and other buildings. Much of the small community of Greenville was incinerated during an explosive run of flames last week.

But the reports are “definitely subject to change” because assessment teams still can’t get into many areas to count what burned, Zuniga said.

The Dixie Fire, named for the road where it started, also threatened 14,000 buildings in more than a dozen small mountain and rural communities in the northern Sierra Nevada.

Crews have cut thousands of acres of new fire lines aimed at preventing the fire from spreading and officials believe the fire lines created on the blaze's southern side will hold the fire at bay there, but the fire's future is unknown, authorities said.

“We don't know where this fire is going to end and where it's going to land. It continues to challenge us," said Chris Carlton, supervisor for Plumas National Forest.

Temperatures are expected to rise and the humidity is expected to fall over the next few days, with triple-digit high temperatures possible later in the week along with a return of strong afternoon winds, fire meteorologist Rich Thompson warned Monday evening.

The fire that broke out July 14 had grown to an area of...