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Photos: A million acres burned already as California enters peak fire season

A firefighter holds a hand up to his left ear as he stands in front of flames and smoke
A firefighter battles the Dixie fire in the mountainous and forested terrain near Janesville, Calif., on Thursday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Dixie fire

Firefighters clear away combustible material at the head of the Dixie fire near Janesville.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
A pall of yellow smoke from the Dixie fire blankets the town of Susanville.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Flames burn through trees on a mountainside at night
The Dixie fire burns in the mountains of Lassen County on Thursday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Flames and embers rise up from a thin tree branch
Part of an evergreen tree explodes into a ball of flame as the Dixie fire burns near Janesville on Thursday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters use hand tools to dig lines in the forest ground as flames burn behind them
A crew battles the Dixie fire in harsh terrain near Janesville on Thursday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters watch a helicopter battle the Dixie fire as it burns through mountainous and forested terrain
Firefighters watch a helicopter battle the Dixie fire as it burns through mountainous and forested terrain near Janesville on Thursday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The monstrous Dixie fire — the second-largest in the state’s recorded history — has been burning for more than a month, and the danger zone now stretches from Lassen to Butte.

A plane drops red liquid over a burning forest.
A DC-10 jumbo jet drops fire retardant on the Dixie fire.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Caldor fire

The Caldor fire in El Dorado County is at nearly 63,000 acres, with 0% containment. Thousands of rural residents have had to evacuate as flames tore through rugged terrain.

Burned vehicles and trees.
The Caldor fire left a moonscape of burned forest, homes and cars in Grizzly Flats.
( Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A chair frame in a burned home in the woods
The frame of a chair sits in the remains of a home in Grizzly Flats.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
A burned stop sign at Evergreen and Grizzly Flat roads.
Burned trees surround a scorched intersection in the community of Grizzly Flats.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Glowing embers fly from burning trees.
Embers fly from burning trees in a long-exposure image taken Aug. 17 on Mormon Emigrant Trail, east of Sly Park.
(Ethan Swope / Associated Press)
A woman sprays a hose at her house in smoky air
Jennifer Whitmore sprays her home with water as the Caldor fire burns near White Hall.
(Ethan Swope / Associated Press)
A broken sculpture with a serene face rests in front of burned trees.
A sculpture rests in front of a destroyed Grizzly Flats home.
(Ethan Swope / Associated Press)

Dixie fire

Flames billow from the windows of a two-story house.
A home burns Aug. 16 on Jeters Road as the fire jumped Highway 395 south of Janesville.
(Ethan Swope / Associated Press)
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A woman holds a child as an older man and two dogs sit in the bed of a pickup truck.
Destiney Barnard holds Raymond William Goetchius in the Doyle Quick Stop parkng lot. She was helping the family evacuate from Susanville when her car broke down.
(Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Flames glow among towering pine trees.
The Dixie fire burns along a hillside near Taylorsville in Plumas County.
(Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Two older men, one with a cane, sit looking stunned on a porch with two dogs.
Gould Fickardt, 71, left, and Woody Hovland, 70, sit with their dogs, Primer, right, and Sheva after their Greenville homes were destroyed.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Rows of burned cars sit amid blackened trees.
Burned cars and scorched trees in Greenville.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Flames leap from trees near an emergency vehicle on a two-lane road.
The Dixie fire jumps Highway 89 north of Greenville on Aug. 3.
(Noah Berger / Associated Press)

Cache fire

CalFire firefighters extinguish hot spots in the at Creekside Mobile Home Park during Cache Fire in Clearlake
CalFire firefighters extinguish hot spots in the burning rubble at Creekside Mobile Home Park during Cache Fire in Clearlake.
(Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle)
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Scorched cars line a property as the Cache fire burns in Clearlake.
(Noah Berger/Associated Press)
Firefighters mop up at Cache Creek Mobile Home Estates where the Cache fire leveled dozens of residences in Clearlake.
(Noah Berger/Associated Press)
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