California _ Agencies
The death toll in the US state of California fire has risen to 23, after a spokesman for the state Forestry and Fire Protection Department announced on Saturday that authorities have found 14 more bodies in and around a town in northern state ravaged by massive forest fires.
The fires in the west of Los Angeles City crossed the highway and spread to residential areas near the coast, including the famous Malibu area, where some houses were devoured by fire.
Authorities in the state warn that the flames in the north and west are progressing rapidly because of the winds, where the flames are estimated to cover an area of about 5600 hectares.
Officials from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Fighting said at a press conference that the forest fire known as Camp fire was moved by the first of yesterday, Friday, quickly towards the outskirts of Chico, 90 miles north of Sacramento and forced thousands to flee the city after he came to his country Nearby Paradise.
The fire, which erupted on Thursday in Los Angeles, increased threefold, and the firefighting teams were able to contain only five percent.
Many residents were forced to leave their cars on the only road through the mountainous town of Paradise to save their lives, and officials said about 2,000 facilities were destroyed in the area.
In Southern California, a fire forced the authorities to extend compulsory eviction orders to the entire city of Malibu, where many celebrities are living, and evacuation orders included 75,000 houses in Los Angeles and Vitoura counties.
