Two women, ages 66 and 73, are the first two fatalities of the deadly Mill Fire burning through northern California.
Both victims were found dead in Weed, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office announced Sunday night. They have not been publicly identified and no information was provided about their deaths.
The Mill Fire broke out Friday and has already doubled in size, up to more than 4,250 acres as of Cal Fire’s latest update Monday morning.
At least 50 buildings have been destroyed and about 1,000 people forced out of their homes in the evacuations.
The blaze is about 40% contained.
Siskiyou County is also battling a second blaze at the same time, the Mountain Fire, which has spread to almost 9,000 acres as of Monday morning.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Friday as the fires blossomed.
Southern California has similarly been besieged by wildfires, including the Route Fire spreading more than 5,000 acres in Los Angeles County.
A heat wave has also sent temperatures skyrocketing into the triple digits.
