At least, two persons have been confirmed dead in the McKinney fire in Northern California, which exploded in size over the weekend, triggering evacuations and becoming the state’s largest wildfire so far this year, according to Cal Fire, CNN reports.
According to the report, the two people were found dead inside a vehicle that burned in the path of the McKinney Fire, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said.
The two were found Sunday morning on a residential driveway along Doggett Creek Road near Highway 96, the sheriff’s office posted Monday morning on Facebook.
Officials have not released any further information on the two people found.
The McKinney Fire broke out Friday afternoon in the Klamath National Forest near the California-Oregon border and has since ripped through more than 52,000 acres, advancing on homes and forcing nearly 2,000 residents to evacuate Saturday, authorities said, the CNN reports stated.
Heavy smoke over the fire helped slow its growth Sunday, but also kept firefighting aircraft grounded, the US Forest Service said in a Sunday night update.
As the weekend ended, the blaze was 0% contained and firefighters face a long battle ahead as lightning and thunderstorms complicated efforts while the flames raced through dry vegetation.
Oregon state Rep. Dacia Grayber was camping with her husband, both firefighters, near the California state line when they woke up to orange skies, hot wind gusts, lightning and blowing ash, she said on Twitter. They evacuated from the campground knowing one of them may return on deployment if the fire grows.
“In 22+ yrs of fire I’ve never experienced anything like this fire behavior at night. It felt absolutely surreal and not just a little apocalyptic,” Grayber tweeted.
And the fire risk could intensify Monday.
“Abundant lightning” is expected through Monday, as well as scattered thunderstorms, which could potentially spread the flames out further, according to the National Weather Service.
“These conditions can be extremely dangerous for firefighters, as winds can be erratic and extremely strong, causing fire to spread in any direction,” forest service officials said in a news release.
Dry thunderstorms like those occurring over the weekend happen when rainfall evaporates before ever hitting the ground, leaving only lightning strikes capable of sparking new fires and fueling existing ones, CNN Meteorologist Robert Shackelford said.
The CNN reports also stated that more than 2 million people are under red flag warnings Monday in parts of northern California, central Oregon, eastern Washington, Montana, eastern Wyoming, western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska.
At an estimated 52,498 acres, the McKinney Fire has become California’s largest wildfire so far this year, Cal Fire Capt. Chris Bruno told CNN.
And it isn’t the only blaze crews have to contend with. There were 10 different wildfires burning in the Klamath National Forest Sunday afternoon, forest officials said.
The fires generated their own weather in the form of pyrocumulus clouds, which are created from the intense heat of the fire forcing air to rise.