A ravenous and deadly wildfire in central California has burned 200 homes and other buildings, though firefighters said Sunday light winds were helping contain the blaze.
The 58-square-mile fire has claimed at least two lives and officials have warned the death toll may rise.
Firefighters may have found human remains Saturday when they began going through neighborhoods to count houses and mobile homes incinerated by the blaze. In an unrecognizable mobile home, they found what appears to be a set of human remains, but because they were so badly burned forensic investigators will have to determine whether they belonged to a person or animal, Kern County Sheriff’s spokesman Ray Pruitt said.
The tally of burned homes rose from 150 reported Saturday. Entire blocks were reduced to rubble, and at least 2,500 homes threatened.
Kern County Fire Department operations chief Joe Reyes said Sunday firefighters had contained significant swaths of the fire’s northern and eastern edges, but that work remained in securing the southern side of the blaze. Crews were moving in from both sides to connect in the middle and establish a perimeter.
Firefighters are hoping to take advantage of lighter winds, though a dry air mass over the area will continue to bring high temperatures and low humidity.