At least two dead in the biggest fire of the year in California

First modification: 08/01/2022 – 17:04Last modification: 08/01/2022 – 17:03

Driven by high winds and thunderstorms, the McKinney Fire has scorched 52,500 acres (21,245 hectares) of the Klamath National Forest near Yreka, and was still raging out of control late Sunday, officials said.

California and other parts of the western United States have long been hit by huge wildfires, the product of years of drought exacerbated by climate change.

The McKinney, which broke out near the Oregon border on Friday, is California’s biggest wildfire so far this year, although it is still smaller than the Dixie, which last year consumed almost 400,000 hectares.

The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said firefighters found two bodies Sunday inside a burned-out car in the driveway of a home in the Klamath River community.

The pair apparently became engulfed in flames while trying to escape, Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue told ABC.

The California Office of Emergency Services reported that more than 2,000 rural residents in the area were under evacuation orders, the majority in Siskiyou County.

A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office of this county cited by the media said that the fire destroyed more than a hundred buildings -including homes, a grocery store and a community center- in the vicinity of Yreka, although it had not reached the city ​​of about 7,800 inhabitants.

“The surrounding areas should be prepared to leave if necessary. Please do not hesitate to leave,” the official warned.

About 650 people were working to put out the fire on Sunday, according to the National Wildfire Coordination Group.

Search and rescue teams evacuated 60 people who were hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail, according to the Jackson County (Oregon) Sheriff’s Department.

The California Fire Department (Cal Fire) said the causes of the fire are being investigated.

The thick smoke helped reduce the growth of the fire on Sunday but, in return, prevented the takeoff of many firefighters’ planes, the US Forest Service (USFS) said.

The McKinney began to spread just days after another fire, the Oak, engulfed dozens of buildings and forced thousands to evacuate near Yosemite Park.

California, enduring years of severe drought, still has a few months to go in its annual fire season.

Scientists maintain that climate change generates increasingly frequent and intense heat waves that promote forest fires.

On Sunday the temperature was very high in Europe. A fire burns out of control north of Lisbon, while in France at least four firefighters were injured in putting out a wildfire.

In Germany, hundreds of firefighters faced a fire in the east of the country that left at least four people injured.