BUSY FIRE SEASON
So far this year, wildfires have scorched almost 4.3 million acres (1.7 million hectares) across the country, less than last year but still higher than the 3.7 million-acre (1.5 million-hectare) average for the same period over the last decade. California has been particularly hard hit with several fierce blazes menacing large populated areas.
One of those, the Cranston fire, prompted a rare closure of much of Yosemite National Park last week, while another forced mass evacuations from the mountain resort community of Idyllwild east of Los Angeles.
Some 1,100 people crowded into an evacuation center at Shasta College, outside Redding, one of several shelters that officials said reached full capacity on Saturday.
One of them, David Franceschine, 57, said he had been on a camping trip when the fire erupted. He tried to rush home but the road was closed by the time he arrived.
"I couldn't get anything," he said, adding that he assumes the fire destroyed all his possessions, including the urn containing the ashes of his son, who died four years ago.
"That's what bothers me the most," Franceschine said.
The missing included a woman and her two great-great grandchildren, the CBS News affiliate in Sacramento reported, citing local police.
President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in the fire-stricken area, authorizing federal funds and staff for the disaster response.
