Both ends are burning as Calif. wildfires rage
Death toll still climbing, as residents urged to flee now
PARADISE, Calif. — Devastating wildfires on both ends of California pushed into new territory yesterday as fatigued firefighters worked to evacuate residents in harm’s way and contain blazes that already have claimed at least 23 lives, destroyed thousands of homes and other structures and scorched hundreds of square miles. The three fires began Thursday — the largest in Northern California, where a Sierra Nevada town of 27,000 was destroyed by a fast-moving fire that quickly grew into the state’s most destructive on record. In Southern California, two fires were burning in the drought-stricken canyons and hills north and west of downtown Los Angeles. The fire that quickly overwhelmed and incinerated the historic Northern California town of Paradise grew to 156 square miles and destroyed more than 6,700 buildings, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said yesterday. More than 50,000 people evacuated the area, and several were killed. One of those who died was found inside a home and the others inside cars and outside vehicles or homes. Officials said better weather was helping them gain ground. Winds were expected to return last night and drive the blaze south across Lake Oroville, threatening Oroville, a town of 19,000 people. Residents of four small communities southeast of Paradise — Berry Creek, Bush Creek, Mountain House and Bloomer Hill — were ordered to evacuate yesterday. Officials say more than 3,000 firefighters are battling the blaze. In Southern California, as winds subsided temporarily yesterday, fire officials assessing damage from a wildfire that burned through wealthy enclaves and working-class suburbs near Los Angeles said two people were found dead in a fire zone that more than doubled in size overnight. Los Angeles county sheriff’s Chief John Benedict said the bodies were found in a sparsely populated stretch of Mulholland Highway in Malibu, but gave no other details. More than 250,000 people were ordered to evacuate as the Hill and Woolsey fires raged. Officials say at least 150 homes have been destroyed, though that number is expected to surge as firefighters search through cities including Thousand Oaks and Malibu.