‘We lost Greenville.’ Wildfire decimates California town

GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) A fast-moving wildfire has engulfed a Northern California town, leveling much of the downtown and several homes.

The Dixie Fire tore through Greenville on Wednesday evening, destroying businesses and homes in the community that dates to the Gold Rush. A photographer on assignment for The Associated Press has been in the town of 800 people, where a gas station, hotel and local bar were among many buildings burned to the ground.

The 3-week-old fire has grown to over 500 square miles. To the south, homes and other structures burned in the fast-moving River Fire that broke out Wednesday near Colfax.