‘Body’ found as wildfire burns near Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, July 24, (AP): Thousands of homes remained evacuated Sunday as two massive wildfires raged in tinder-dry California hills and canyons, and authorities said a burned body was found in one neighborhood swept by the flames.

The body was discovered Saturday evening outside a home on Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, just north of Los Angeles, and detectives are trying to determine whether the person was killed by the blaze or another cause, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt Rob Hahnlein said.

The home also may have burned, he said.

The area was among those ordered evacuated as the fire raged through brush withered by days of 100-degree temperatures as Southern California sweltered through a heat wave.