‘Terrible reality set in’: L.A. Times photographer on documenting the Dixie fire

GREENVILLE, Calif. —  With each passing mile, the smoke from the Dixie fire got thicker and thicker as I drove up Highway 89 in Plumas County. Visibility was decreasing at a steady pace to no more than 10 feet in front of me once I reached my destination of Greenville. If you have ever looked out of the window of a jetliner as it graces the clouds, that’s what it felt like, except this time I was the pilot — without any instrument training. My only thought was, if I drive slowly enough, I can hopefully react quickly enough to limit the damage if I hit something or someone.

I made it safely. Once I got out of the car, the smell of an overflowing ashtray filled my nose. This was one town I was sure of where nobody on this day was anti-mask.

The smoke that hung in the air made it impossible to immediately see how decimated the town was. As I walked in, seeing structure after structure burned to the ground, the terrible reality set in. And all those once-beautiful trees are completely scorched. The only thing — it seemed to me — that was still green in Greenville was the name itself.

Greenville residents Gould Fickardt, 71, left, and Woody Hovland, 70, sit with their dogs, Primer, right, and Sheva outside a friend’s home. Fickhardt owns the Way Station bar and apartments, which have burned. Hovland’s home was destroyed.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

A U.S. flag is placed on a burned-out firetruck in front of the Greenville Fire Station on Highway 89.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Horses graze in a field off North Valley Road.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Street signs in Greenville melted from the extreme temperature.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Smoke from the Dixie fire engulfs the town of Greenville.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Jaime Crane, an inspector with Cal Fire’s Shasta Trinity Unit, walks through a burned neighborhood to document what materials the roofs of homes were made of.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Kelly Tan, 59, left, looks on as her sister, Tiffany Lozano, 44, photographs melted street signs on Main Street in Greenville. Tan is a resident of nearby Taylorsville and Lozano is a resident of nearby Quincy.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The front gate of a home on Main Street in Greenville survived the Dixie fire.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Clouds of smoke loom over the remains of homes and cars.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

A welcome bench is still standing after the Dixie fire on Greenville’s Main Street.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

A water drop is made as the Dixie fire continues to burn near Greenville.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Photo editing by Jacob Moscovitch.