Firefighter dies:
Fatality reported at huge California wildfire.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A firefighter died Thursday while working a colossal wildfire burning in coastal mountains northwest of Los Angeles that has become the fourth-largest in California history.
Cory Iverson was an engineer with a state fire engine strike team based in San Diego. Iverson, 32, is survived by his pregnant wife and a 2-year-old daughter, said Fire Chief Ken Pimlott of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Iverson had been with the state since 2009. Pimlott did not provide any details about the death but said it was under investigation by an accident review team.
Pimlott said he was “deeply saddened” by Iverson’s death but added that fire crews were continuing to focus on their mission.
“The firefight in front of us continues to go on. The communities we are protecting are depending on us and we will not fail,” he said at an afternoon news conference.
On Thursday afternoon, dozens of police and fire vehicles escorted a hearse carrying Iverson’s flagdraped body to the county medical examiner’s office in Ventura.
It was the second death linked to the fire. A 70-yearold woman was killed in a car crash while evacuating as the fire raged last week. Her body was found inside the wrecked car along an evacuation route.
A return of gusty Santa Ana winds brought renewed activity to inland portions of the so-called Thomas Fire straddling coastal Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Authorities said it now covered 379 square miles. That surpassed a blaze that burned inland Santa Barbara County a decade ago.
Firefighting costs so far were tallied at $74.7 million, according to Cal Fire.
Some evacuations were lifted and the risk to the agricultural city of Fillmore was diminishing. But coastal enclaves to the west remained under threat as crews protected hillside homes in Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria.
Schools and many roads remain closed.