(TNS) – Authorities said Friday morning at least five people have died in the Camp Fire that rapidly engulfed the town of Paradise near Chico, and more fatalities are expected to be discovered as the flames rage out of control and smoke blankets the region in an orange haze.

Two other wildfires meanwhile continued to scorch their way toward the Pacific Ocean in Ventura County, prompting evacuations of Malibu, a Cal State University campus and a naval base.

“The magnitude of the destruction that we are seeing is really, again, unbelievable and heartbreaking, and our, our hearts go out to everybody who has been affected by this and impacted,” Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said in a Friday morning news conference live-streamed on Facebook.

Butte County Sheriff-Coroner Kory L. Honea reported Friday that five people have been found dead in the area of Edgewood Lane in Paradise. Their bodies were found in vehicles that the sheriff said “were overcome by the Camp Fire,” and were too badly burned to identify yet.

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https://www.govtech.com/em/preparedness/Northern-California-Fire-Update-Officials-Report-at-Least-Five-Fatalities-From-Catastrophic-Camp-Fire.html