Iran Press/America: The death toll from the most destructive fire to hit California rose to 23 on Saturday (November 10) as rescue workers recovered more bodies of people killed by the devastating blaze.
Firefighters are battling raging fires at both ends of the state, but there is little hope of containing the flames anytime soon.
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Today, 14 additional bodies were located, which brings our total number to 23," Sheriff Kory Honea told a news conference.
Ten of the bodies were found in the town of Paradise while four were discovered in the Concow area, both in Butte County, Honea said.
Rescuers could be seen removing remains over a period of several hours in Paradise and placing them in a black hearse. Pieces of bodies were transported by bucket, while intact remains were carried in body bags.
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So far, a total of 19 of the people killed in what authorities have dubbed the "Camp Fire" have been reported in Paradise, where more than 6,700 buildings - most of them residences - have been consumed by the late-season inferno.
From miles around, acrid smoke could be seen in the sky around Paradise, the sun barely visible. On the ground, cars were reduced to metal carcasses, while power lines were also gnawed by the flames.
Locals fled the danger, but police told AFP some farmers returned to check on their cattle.
"The magnitude of destruction we have seen is really unbelievable and heartbreaking, and our hearts go to everybody who has been affected by this," said Mark Ghilarducci, the director of the California Office of Emergency Services.
Governor-elect Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to provide assistance to the hardest-hit areas in the fire-prone state.
The fast-moving blaze in the north, which authorities have named the "Camp Fire," broke out early Thursday.
Fanned by strong winds, it has so far scorched 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares) and is 20 per cent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said Saturday. So far, three of the more than 3,200 firefighters deployed have been injured.
They estimate they will need three weeks to fully contain the blaze.
In southern California, more wildfires burned, including one just north of Los Angeles and another in Ventura County near Thousand Oaks, where a Marine Corps veteran shot dead 12 people in a country music bar on Wednesday.
Authorities said some 200,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders, including the entire city of Malibu.
The "Woolsey Fire" had consumed around 69,000 acres, destroyed at least 150 homes and was so far not contained, the Ventura County Fire Department said, adding that evacuation orders were issued for some 88,000 homes in the county and neighboring Los Angeles County. 209/103
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