Some firefighters battling the massive Dixie Fire raging in Northern California have faced some unforeseen challenges when trying to evacuate residents in harm’s way.
Local KPIX reported that firefighters working to evacuate the historic mountain town of Greenville last week encountered residents who refused to leave their property and threatened firefighters with weapons as the blaze moved in on the town.
“There is stuff out there that we didn’t want to see. Again, talking about the people out there dealing with evacuations. We are all challenged. Law enforcement’s challenged. We have firefighters getting guns pulled out on them because people don’t want to evacuate,” Jake Cagle, operations section chief for California Incident Management, said during a Thursday morning briefing, according to KPIX.
“That’s just the duality. That’s what it is. Not trying to place the blame on the landowners. We understand. Our hearts go out to them,” Cagle said.
Dixie Fire (Getty)
“The impacts, the devastation we understand. That’s why we are here. We are trying to do the best we can. That is our sole intention. But again it comes down to life threats, and that’s what we need to manage,” he added.
Plumas County supervisor Greg Hagwood told the Los Angeles Times last week that law enforcement was also met with weapons as evacuations grew tense.
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“They are met with people who have guns and [are] saying, ‘Get off my property and you are not telling me to leave,'” he told the news outlet.
He said deputies asked those property owners for next-of-kin information in case those refusing to leave died from the blaze.
Greenville, a historic mining town of about 1,000 people, was decimated by the fire, with homes and businesses reduced to rubble. No deaths have been reported as a result of the Dixie Fire at this time.
The fire is now the second-largest wildfire recorded in the state’s history, burning nearly 500,000 acres since mid-July.
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