Photos: Dixie Fire Grows In Plumas County

The Dixie Fire burning above the Cresta Dam in the Feather River Canyon has forced evacuations in Butte and Plumas counties.

Approximately 2,350 people have been evacuated as a number of major wildfires continue to burn in Northern California. Nearly 2,500 personnel are working to fight the fire, battling steep terrain and unpredictable winds.

"Our crews are having to hike in, for the most part," Dixie Fire Public Information Officer Edwin Zuniga said. "The roads are very difficult to access. We're basically having to create dirt roads and punch in as fast as possible to allow our fire engines to get in there.”

Those winds have formed at times what's known as a pyrocumulus cloud, a column of smoke that rises high into the air and then collapses. The cloud is so large it can create its own weather, including lightning strikes in the region.

So far, 273,000 acres have burned so far this year in California. CapRadio has more information and resources about wildfires in Northern California here.