Since Sept. 4, the Walker Fire has grown to consume over 50,000 acres, making it the largest wildfire in California this year. As of Sunday afternoon, the fire had grown to 53,186 acres and was at 67% containment, according to InciWeb.The fire has charred parts of the Plumas National Forest, about 11 miles east of Taylorsville, California. The Murdock Crossing and Stoney areas are still under a mandatory evacuation on orders from the Plumas County Sheriff, though all other areas previously under mandatory evacuation have been reduced to an advisory-evacuation level.On Sept. 8, the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 took a photo of the Walker Fire with the combination of natural color overlaid with false-color composite to further emphasize the burned areas, according to NASA. The Walker Fire has been burning in northern California since Sept. 4, 2019, and had engulfed more than 50,000 acres as of Sept. 15. The Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 took this image on Sept. 8. (NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Antt/Landsat data from U.S. Geological Survey) “Fire crews will get some help from Mother Nature on Monday as a storm system delivers much-needed rainfall to Northern California,” AccWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff said. “This will be the first meaningful rainfall since late May for Sacramento.”Over 2,000 personnel are currently employed in containing the wildfire. A red flag warning remains in effect from Sunday morning through mid-morning on Monday.”As much as 0.50 of an inch of rain can fall on the Walker fire,” Duff said. “There can be a period of gusty winds prior to the dousing rainfall that can fan the flames and cause erratic wildfire behavior. Wind gusts can reach 30-45 mph into Monday.”The cause of the fire is still under investigation.The single largest recorded wildfire on record for California was the Ranch Fire, which burned 410,203 acres in 2018. The Ranch Fire was a part of the larger Mendocino Complex Fire along with the River Fire, combining to become the largest recorded fire complex in the history of California. The complex burned 459,123 acres.Officials said sparks from a hammer driving a metal stake into the ground caused the Ranch Fire, the Associated Press said.
