At least nine people have lost their lives so far as two massive wildfires continued to rage out of control Saturday in northern and southern California, where an emergency has been declared in the state.
Most of northern California has been placed under a “Red Flag Warning,” which means “extreme fire behavior” can occur within 24 hours. As of Saturday morning, there were 16 active fires blazing in the state.
Holy blazes pic.twitter.com/8ZXpxIvKy0
— Robert Lagueux (@BobLagueuxCSN)
Hundreds of thousands of people in Butte County and Ventura County have been forced to flee their homes in the face of the flames, just days after a mass shooting by an ex-Marine at a bar in the town of Thousand Oaks.
More than 6,700 homes and businesses were burned down by the 90,000-care Camp Fire by midday Saturday, the most destructive blaze on record in California history.
Some 500 miles to the south, the 35,000-acre Woolsey Fire is still raging in Los Angeles County, where more than 200,000 people were under mandatory evacuation early Saturday.
All residents of Malibu, home to at least 13,000 people 30 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, were ordered to leave on Friday. Among those forced to flee the Malibu area was Kim Kardashian West, who recently signed a deal to be the face of Israeli designer Carolina Lemke alongside Israeli model Bar Refaeli, owner of the glasses chain. Kardashian West said her home was damaged by the flames. She visited Israel with her husband Kanye West and their daughter North in 2015. Numerous other Hollywood stars and entertainers have been forced to flee as well, including Lady Gaga.