YREKA: On Monday, dozens of firefighters were battling a rapidly spreading forest fire in northern California that has claimed two lives and compelled thousands of residents to leave their homes.
According to CalFire, the McKinney Fire, which has burned across 55,493 acres (22,500 hectares) of the Klamath National Forest near the Oregon border, is the state’s biggest fire so far this year.
On Monday morning, despite the efforts of the greater than 850 firemen who had been dispatched to battle the blaze, the fire was not even 10% contained.
Huge wildfires have decimated California and other western U.S. regions recently, fueled by prolonged drought and made worse by a warming climate.Firefighters discovered two deceased persons inside a burned-out automobile on Sunday in the front of a house in the Klamath River neighbourhood, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.
Firefighters believe the two were caught in the rapidly spreading fire as they attempted to run, according to Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue, who was speaking to ABC News.
More than 2,000 inhabitants of the rural area are being told to evacuate after Siskiyou County received a state of emergency declaration from California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The operations of firefighters combating the blaze are made more difficult by a heatwave with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), tinder-dry terrain, and thunderstorms carrying powerful winds.
