Forest fire in California has already killed four people

Search teams found two more bodies in the area of a wildfire that has raged for five days in northern California near the Oregon border. The fire is recognized as the largest of the year, state authorities said Tuesday.

The bodies of two people were found Monday in two homes along a highway that runs through a fire zone in the Klamath Forest Preserve, 483 kilometers north of San Francisco, the Siskiyou County sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The remains of two other people who apparently tried to escape the fire at the last minute were found Sunday in a burnt-out car on the same highway, sheriff’s officials said Monday.

Authorities said no further information about the dead will be released until accurate identification and next of kin have been notified.

More than 22,000 acres of drought-scorched timber, grass and brush have burned since the McKinney fire broke out Friday, fire officials said Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, about 4,500 people had been ordered to evacuate. The fire also destroyed about 100 structures. Nearly 1,000 more residences across the county are at risk of fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. The fire broke out amid record heat waves in the region.