Page 2 - California Wildfire

In pics: California wildfire toll at 42; fire crews' fight continues

The dead were found in burned-out cars, in the smoldering ruins of their homes, or next to their vehicles, apparently overcome by smoke and flames before they could jump in behind the wheel and escape. In some cases, there were only charred fragments of bone, so small that coroner's investigators used a wire basket to sift and sort them. At least 42 people were confirmed dead in the wildfire that turned the Northern California town of Paradise and outlying areas into hell on earth, making it the deadliest blaze in state history. The search for bodies continued Monday. Hundreds of people were unaccounted for by the sheriff's reckoning, four days after the fire swept over the town of 27,000 and practically wiped it off the map with flames so fierce that authorities brought in a mobile DNA lab and forensic anthropologists to help identify the dead. Meanwhile, a landowner near where the blaze began, Betsy Ann Cowley, said she got an email from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. the day before

California wildfire bigger than New York city, 5th largest in history

Fanned by strong winds, it has become the fifth largest wildfire in recorded state history after it grew by more than 50,000 acres in a day.

At least 23 dead in 'catastrophic' California wildfires

More than 200 fire engines and firefighting crews from around the country were being rushed to California to help battle infernos which have left at least 23 people dead and thousands homeless. "This is a serious, critical, catastrophic event," California fire chief Ken Pimlott told reporters. "We're not going to be out of the woods for a great number of days to come." Pimlott said that after a respite on Tuesday winds kicked up again on Wednesday and the winds and dry conditions were hampering efforts to contain the blazes. "We are still impacted by five years of drought," the director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. "These fires were driven by the critically dry fuel bed," he added. "We are literally looking at explosive vegetation." Pimlott said the death toll from the fires, among the deadliest ever in California, could be expected to go up further. Thirteen of the deaths have occurred in Sonoma County, a wine-produc

Evacuations lifted, California fire now contained

Officials said the blaze in Riverside County grew to nearly 2 square miles

Landmark Hearst Castle closed as US wildfires bear down

Firefighters are battling to bring some half-dozen active fires raging across California under control

More Californians refusing to evacuate despite fire danger

Some say wildfires have now become a part of living in the wildlands

Nearly 10 square miles burn in latest California wildfire

On the central coast, meanwhile, California's biggest fire expanded to more than 95 square miles north of scenic Big Sur

Massive fires rage in California

Other US states facing fire or fire-risks include Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming