A wildfire in Northern California has killed two people and forced more than a thousand residents to evacuate.
The mill fire tore through the small rural community of Weed, where authorities said it caused two deaths.
“We lost two people in this fire. There’s no easy way to tell,” Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue said at a community meeting Sunday night.
The two reported deaths were elderly women aged 66 and 73. Both were found by first responders in Weed on Friday. As of Monday, the victims had not yet been identified.
More than 100 buildings were destroyed in Weed, and about 1,000 people are still under mandatory evacuation orders.
Cal Fire confirmed three people injured in the fire, but no one was reported missing.
The fire at the mill was about 40 percent contained as of Monday.
Authorities began lifting evacuation orders Monday morning, but residents are still barred from returning to their homes in many parts of Weed.
The mill fire is one of two fires currently burning just miles apart in Siskiyou County. The mountain fire, which was ignited on Friday, grew further on Sunday and forced about 300 people to evacuate.
The wildfire is burning in a much less populated area, but officials remain concerned that California’s heat wave and drought conditions could worsen both fires.
“A period of warming and dry weather began today and is expected to continue through Tuesday in the Mill Fire area,” Cal Fire said in an incident report filed Sunday.
The West Coast heat wave is expected to continue as California enters what is typically the most dangerous few months of the wildfire season.
Wildfires have already ravaged parts of the state this year. In July, more than 6,000 people were evacuated from Mariposa County when an “explosive” wildfire burned near Yosemite National Park.
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