A 72-year-old man found dead in a vehicle and two other people discovered on a roadway were among the latest victims of the deadliest wildfire in California this year.
Fifteen people were killed last week in the North Complex fire burning about 125 miles (200 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco. One person remained missing, the Butte County sheriff's office said late Wednesday.
DNA testing was used to positively identify 12 of the victims, Sheriff Kory Honea said. They included Jacob Albright, 72, of Feather Falls, whose body was found in a vehicle on a property in the community. The two bodies in the roadway were found in Berry Creek — one about 10 feet from an all-terrain vehicle, the other also near a vehicle, Honea said. One of them was identified as Paul Winer, 68, while the other has not been identified.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that more than 17,000 firefighters were battling some 25 major fires that were ignited in the past month, after an unprecedented lightning siege in mid-August.