A wildfire burning in Northern California has become the state’s deadliest of the year, as the overall death toll from the fires up and down the US West Coast jumped to 24.
On Thursday (local time), authorities in Butte County, north of the capital Sacramento, announced seven deaths to go with the three found the previous day.
More bodies could be found as crews manage to make their way into devastated areas.
The weeks-old North Complex fire was about 50 per cent contained when winds blew it into drought-affected vegetation.
Approximately 2,000 buildings have been destroyed.
The town of Berry Creek, about 280 kilometres north-east of San Francisco, has been mostly destroyed due to the blaze.
The fire has also burned down Camp Okizu, a summer getaway for children with cancer.
The North Complex fire is the 10th largest on record in California and growing as firefighters try to prevent it from advancing toward the town of Paradise, where the most destructive fire in state history two years ago killed 85 people and destroyed 19,000 buildings.❐
