"Unable to go home and struggling to move forward, Greenville evacuees seek shelter and face the loss of their community"

"QUINCY, Calif. — When the Dixie Fire struck, a wall of flames marched down the mountains, incinerating small businesses and melting homes into ash. Helicopters circled overhead, dropping flame retardant in a desperate attempt to stop the blaze.

Soon, most of Greenville, Calif., had been reduced to heaps of rubble, mangled metal and soot-covered debris — a centuries-old town essentially wiped off the map. Meanwhile, most of its roughly 1,000 residents had been evacuated, an entire community turned into wildfire refugees.

More than a week later, Greenville residents remain in a state of suspended animation. As the Dixie Fire has exploded into the largest single wildfire in California history — consuming more than 500,000 acres in a wildfire season that’s on track to shatter last year’s records — Greenville residents are forbidden to return home."

Marisa Iati reports for the Washington Post August 12, 2021. [2]