PARADISE, Calif. (Reuters) – A rapidly moving wildfire in Northern California killed five people when flames engulfed their vehicles as they attempted to flee the mountain town of Paradise, authorities said on Friday, as they expressed fears more bodies would be discovered. Nearly 500 miles (800 km) to the south, a blaze forced the evacuation of the upscale oceanside city of Malibu and threatened the beleaguered town of Thousand Oaks, where a gunman killed 12 people this week in a shooting rampage in a bar and dance hall. Since it broke out on Thursday, the so-called Camp Fire has more than tripled in size to 70,000 acres (2,838 hectares) after leveling parts of Paradise, with a population of 26,000 people, and was only 5 percent contained by Friday. In addition to the five people found dead in their vehicles, many were forced to ditch their cars and run for their lives down the sole road through the mountain town. In the aftermath, a school bus was among several abandoned vehicles left blackened by flames on one road. About 2,000 structures were destroyed in the area, officials said. The death toll is expected to climb, said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) spokesman Scott McLean, because flames have blocked search and rescue crews from looking for victims in destroyed homes. “The only reason they found the five is because they were still on the road,” McLean said. HOT WINDS The fires in California have been driven by hot… [Read full story]
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