Northern California wildfire leaves two dead after ravaging more than 22,000 acres

Aug. 1 () –

A wildfire in the northern state of California, in the United States, active since Friday, has left at least two dead after razing 22,257 hectares and causing a red alert that already affects more than two million people.

The two victims were found in a car at around 10 a.m. (local time) next to Highway 96, according to a statement from the Siskiyou County sheriff. “We believe they were trying to proceed with the evacuation,” stressed the office’s spokeswoman, Courtney Kreider, as reported by ‘The Wall Street Journal’.

At least a dozen residences have burned since the fire broke out Friday night in the Klamath National Forest near the California-Oregon border, forcing the evacuation of some 2,000 residents.

High temperatures in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest have caused instability in the atmosphere that may trigger sporadic thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service, as picked up by Bloomberg.

“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 have said in a news release, as picked up by CNN.