On the night between Friday and Saturday, the Dixie fire ravaged another 40 square kilometers of land.
As a result, the fire has now ravaged 1,800 square kilometers since mid-July.
More than 5,000 firefighters are battling the blaze and authorities are urging residents in the area to be prepared to evacuate.
- The fire is not over.
If the flames approach, one must be prepared, says Todd Johns, sheriff of Plumas County, where the small community of Greenville, dating from the gold rush in California in the mid-19th century, was hit hard.
No serious injuries have been reported so far, but five people have been reported missing Greenville alone.
Throughout Plumas County, eight people are missing.
Continues to grow
Although the fire continues to grow - and only 21 percent of it is under control - cooler weather on Saturday gave firefighters a bit of respite.
- We hope to make progress.
Favorable weather conditions with less wind and a blanket of smoke that blocks direct sunlight.
It gives higher humidity, which helps us, says Edwin Zuniga, firefighter and spokesman for the California Fire Department Cal Fire.
Ironically, Dixie's progress in the northeast has also been slowed by what Cal Fire calls a "scar" from a previous fire, the so-called Moonlight fire in 2007. The vegetation in the area that was ravaged by fire has still not recovered, which now limits Dixie's access to fuel.
Against a dark record
By the end of July, the amount of fire-damaged land in California had increased by more than 250 percent compared to the same time last year, which was the worst fire year to date in the state's modern history.
California, like much of the western United States, has been plagued by high temperatures and prolonged droughts that scientists link to climate change.
Since the early 1970s, the state's summer temperatures have risen by 1.4 degrees, resulting in longer and more severe fire seasons.