A forest fire in California killed 17 people and 2 firefighters died

Seventeen people are missing as a result of a huge forest fire that crosses northern California, killing two firefighters, destroying hundreds of buildings and forcing massive evacuations.

More than 38,000 people in Redding and in other parts of Shasta County were ordered to leave their homes because of the 32,000-hectare Carr fire, which has destroyed at least 550 homes and businesses. Authorities warned that there would probably be more evacuations.

Some 3,400,400 shore-based firefighters and 17 helicopters fought the fire, which was only 5% contained while it was spreading rapidly across Redding, a city of 90,000 locals in the Shasta-Trinity area.

The fire left Keswick, a town of 450 inhabitants, in ruins, said the California Department of Forests and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), adding that another 5,000 buildings were threat.

Security officials were trying to locate 17 missing persons, but said the numbers had fluctuated in recent days, said Redding police sergeant Todd Cogle on the phone.

"We do not want to give the impression that all these people have suffered serious consequences," Cogle said. "We sent officers to some of these places (where they lived) and the houses were intact, so it is more than likely that they were evacuated," he added.

There are currently 89 major forest fires in 14 US states, mainly in the west of the country, according to the National Fire Inter-Agency Center.

Up to now this year, forest fires have burned nearly 1.7 million hectares in the United States, above an average 1.5 million hectares recorded for the same period in the last decade.