California’s largest fire torches homes as blazes lash western US

Flames from the Dixie fire consume a home in the Indian Falls community of Plumas County, California (Noah Berger/AP)

Flames racing through rugged terrain in Northern California destroyed scores of homes as the state’s largest wildfire intensified and numerous other blazes battered the western US.

The Dixie fire, which started on July 14, had already levelled more than a dozen houses and other structures when it tore through the tiny town of Indian Falls after dark.