Extract from ABC News
A fire burning in Northern California has become the state's deadliest of the year as the death toll from the siege on the West Coast jumped to 24.
Key points:
- California's deadliest fire of the season is continuing to grow
- Around 2,000 buildings have been destroyed by the North Complex fire
- Fires in neighbouring Oregon have also destroyed homes and been fatal
On Thursday (local time), authorities in Butte County, north of the capital Sacramento, announced seven deaths to go with the three found the previous day.
More bodies could be found as crews manage to make their way into devastated areas.
The weeks-old fire, known as the North Complex fires, was about 50 per cent contained when winds blew it into drought-affected vegetation.
Approximately 2,000 buildings have been destroyed.
The town of Berry Creek, about 280 kilometres north-east of San Francisco, has been mostly destroyed due to the blaze.
The fire has also burned down Camp Okizu, a summer getaway for children with cancer.
The North Complex fire is the 10th largest on record in California and growing as firefighters try to prevent it from advancing toward the town of Paradise, where the most destructive fire in state history two years ago killed 85 people and destroyed 19,000 buildings.
Authorities lifted an evacuation warning for Paradise, the day after residents awoke to similar skies as the 2018 morning when a wind-whipped inferno reduced the town to rubble.
Under red skies and falling ash, many chose to flee again, jamming the main road out of town in another replay of the catastrophe two years ago.
Forecasters said there was some good news with upcoming weather.
Winds are expected to remain lighter this week in the fire area, while dense smoke actually knocked down the temperature slightly and was expected to keep the humidity somewhat higher.
More than 12,500 square kilometres have burned so far this year — approximately the size of Greater Sydney.
Nineteen people have been killed and nearly 4,000 structures have burned across the state since the fire season began.
'We're still hoping for good news'
Many families are waiting anxiously, with 16 people missing in northern California.
Among those unaccounted for are Sandy Butler and her husband, who called their son to say they were going to try to escape the flames by finding shelter in a pond.
Jessica Fallon, who has two children with the Butler's grandson, told the Associated Press she would lose everything if it meant the Butler's were safe.
"We're still hoping and praying for good news," Ms Fallon said.
"Everything is replaceable, but not my grandparents' lives.
"I'd rather lose everything than those two. They kind of held the family together."
She told the Associated Press she has been peppering hospitals with phone calls in search of her grandparents.
"I'm tossing and turning. I have just such bad anxiety. I'm just really worried about my grandparents," she said.
"I'm hoping that they're up there sitting in some water waiting to be rescued."
Numerous fires continue to burn in north-west United States
More than 10 per cent of the population of Oregon has been evacuated as 39 fires burn across the state.
Approximately half-a-million people have been forced to leave their homes, according to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management.
In the past three days, more than 3,600 square kilometres had been burned, according to Governor Kate Brown.
"This could be the greatest loss of human life and property due to wildfire in our state's history," she said.
This is more than double the total area which usually burns in a normal fire season in Oregon.
A fire raging along the Oregon border destroyed 150 homes near the community of Happy Camp and one person was confirmed dead, the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office said.
So far, there have been three confirmed deaths in Oregon.
AP/ABC
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