3 dead as wildfire explodes in Northern California

OROVILLE, Calilf. (AP) — Three people died in a wind-whipped Northern California wildfire that has forced thousands of people from their homes while carving a 25-mile path of destruction through mountainous terrain and parched foothills, authorities said Wednesday.

California Highway Patrol Officer Ben Draper told the Bay Area News Group that one person was found in a car and apparently had been trying to escape the flames.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and other buildings are believed to have been damaged or destroyed by the blaze northeast of San Francisco, fire officials said at an evening news conference.

The fire has also threatened Paradise, a town devastated just two years ago by the deadliest blaze in state history that prompted a traffic jam as panicked residents tried to escape.

The North Complex fire was one of more than two dozen burning in California, including three of the five largest ever in the state. Other wildfires charred huge swaths of the West amid gusty, dry conditions. Forecasters said some weather relief was in sight and could help firefighters overwhelmed by the blazes.

In Washington, more acres burned in a single day than firefighters usually see all year. Fires also forced people to flee homes in Oregon and Idaho. A blast of polar air helped slow wildfires in Colorado and Montana.

Since the middle of August, fires in California have killed 11 people, destroyed more than 3,600 structures, burned old growth redwoods, charred chaparral and forced evacuations in communities near the coast, in wine country and along the Sierra Nevada.

The fire raging outside Oroville, 125 miles northeast of San Francisco, jumped the middle fork of the Feather River on Tuesday and, driven by 45 mph winds, leapt into a canopy of pines and burned all the way to Lake Oroville — about 25 miles, said Jake Cagle, one of the fire chiefs involved.

The fire had been 62 square miles and 50% contained before it grew more than sixfold.

Firefighters were focused on saving lives and homes instead of trying to halt the fire’s advance, Cagle said.

The fire tore into several hamlets along the river and near Lake Oroville, leveling countless homes and other buildings, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

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