The death toll rises to 25 as two wildfires ravage northern and southern California

The number of deaths in two fires in northern and southern California has risen to 25.

Investigators discovered 14 bodies Saturday near Paradise, California, said Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea. Sheriff Honea said some of the victims were found in cars and homes. Yesterday, the authorities discovered nine victims of the fire. Sheriff Honea said his department had reports of 110 people still missing but hoped some would be found. The ministry initially received over 500 calls about citizens unable to reach their loved ones. But he says they could help many of them.

In southern California, two people were found dead and many houses, ranging from ranches to celebrity mansions, were burned in two fires that affected more than one hundred square kilometers, authorities said Saturday.

Photos: Forest fires in northern and southern California wreak havoc

Both bodies were found in Malibu, but Los Angeles County Sheriff's Chief John Benedict gave no further details. They were discovered in the winding area of ​​Mulholland Highway, offering a steep panoramic view. Saturday, the road was littered with rocks, some big rocks and power lines fell to the ground, some of which were still burning. Most of the surrounding structures have been razed.

Firefighters saved thousands of homes while they were working in "extreme and difficult fire conditions that they've never seen in their lives," said the county fire chief. Los Angeles, Daryl Osby.

The bad conditions of Friday night have given way to quiet Saturday, with winds reduced to the breeze.

Firefighters took advantage of this lull to try to control the powerful fire that had reached 282 square kilometers (109 square miles) and understand the extent of the damage in the first two days.

Osby said that the losses in the houses were important but did not specify how many people had burned. The authorities said earlier that 150 houses had been destroyed and their number would increase. About 250,000 houses are under evacuation in the area.

A fire burned in coastal locations as luxurious as Malibu, where Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian West, Guillermo del Toro and Martin Sheen were among the people who had been forced to leave their homes due to a lack of control. evacuation throughout the city.

"It was a very big fire storm," said Lani Netter, whose house in Malibu was spared while her neighbor was burned. "We had huge demonic winds, that's the only way to say it."

The flames also burned inland from hills and canyons dotted with modest homes, to the corner of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, and spread to suburbs like Thousand Oaks, a city of 130,000 who killed 12 people a few days ago. in a mbad shot in a country music bar.

Forest fires have raged on both sides of the city, still in mourning, where about three quarters of the population are subjected to evacuation orders that the authorities urged them to respect.

"We have had a lot of tragedies in our community," said Linda Parks, supervisor for Ventura County, whose district includes Thousand Oaks. "We do not want more. We do not want lost lives anymore. "

All that remained was the horses for Arik Fultz, who spent the Saturday sifting the remains through the charred remains of his 40-acre ranch near Malibu.

"It does not seem to me that everything is gone," Fultz said. "Just yesterday, 24 hours ago, I fed the horses in the morning."

Two houses, two barns, three caravans and decades of accumulated property have disappeared.

The 52 horses all survived after a frantic race to save them.

Tricia Fultz, 61-year-old mother of Fultz, said everyone was expecting the fire to stay south of their property, but the wind forced them to take the horses open for open the pastures as quickly as possible.

Three were still in their pens when the adjacent barn caught fire, and Tricia Fultz just had to open the pens, burning her hands and hoping for the best.

She and her husband, along with six other people, set fire to a tunnel a short distance from the road as the fire burned the hills above and around them.

"It's so surreal because it's so dark, and when you're in the tunnel you do not see anything," said Fultz. "There were so many burns and black."

Ben Watkins went through flames trying to get back to his home in Los Angeles.

He was driving from Santa Barbara when the fire stopped traffic and he decided to wait on a beach in Malibu, watching the start of the fire.

Finally, he decided to run, jumping into his vehicle and returning home through the flames that pbaded the Pacific Coast Highway.

"It's the survival mode," Watkins said Saturday after returning home the day before. "You think about how you have to go home at all costs."

The region that burns in southern California is experiencing a severe drought, US government badysts said. Last year, California emerged from a five-year state-wide drought, but the month of 2018 was very dry, pushing some parts of the country to a standstill. State towards drought and leaving other areas, such as the fire of northern California, abnormally dry.