Update: 2 more bodies found amid McKinney Fire destruction; death toll climbs to 4
KLAMATH RIVER (CBS SF/AP) -- Teams searching through the debris left behind by the fast-moving flames of the McKinney Fire have discovered two more bodies at separate residences along State Route 96, authorities announced Tuesday.
"This brings the confirmed fatality number to 4," the sheriff's statement said. "At this time there are no unaccounted for persons."
Other details were not immediately disclosed.
As of Tuesday morning, the McKinney Fire in Siskiyou County has burned at least 56,165 acres since it began Friday afternoon. About 15 miles west of the fireline, the China 2, Alex and surrounding lightning fires, now known as the Yeti Complex, have burned 2,430 acres.
McKinney Fire & Yeti Complex Incident
Authorities said the rapid growth of the McKinney Fire that overwhelmed the area surrounding the small community of Klamath River was fueled by an intense downdraft from a thunder cell passing over the region.
"It's really tragic when a fire gets up and moves this fast and basically takes out a community. And that's what happened in the Klamath River area," Mike Lindbery, a spokesperson with the fire's incident management team, said Tuesday.
Cal Fire Siskiyou Chief Phil Anzo gave a vivid description of the first hours of the firefight when the flames erupted Saturday in the Klamath National Forest along the California-Oregon border, sending Cal Fire crews and other locals fleeing for safety.
"The conditions were beyond our control," he told a community gathering Monday night. "We had a thunder cell that came over the top of this incident and blew out a very strong downdraft winds and expanded the fire in all directions. Thank God our firefighters were able to get out of the way."
The wall of flames roared through Klamath River reducing homes to piles of rubble. Two residents were not able to escape the fire. They died inside a car in a residential driveway.
Other residents spoke about the frightening speed of the flames. It was unknown if a "firenado" was fueling the blaze.
Sherri Marchetti-Perrault described her harrowing escape to reporters at Monday night's meeting.
"When we left, everything was on fire," she told the Los Angeles Times. "It happened so fast. We left with the clothes on our back. We couldn't breathe, and we couldn't see."
Her 78-year-old uncle refused to leave. She feared he was killed. It was not known if he was among the four victims whose bodies have been recovered.
Chris Hodgson also escaped the flames.
"It traveled from the top of that ridge downhill in the space of maybe 15 minutes with trees exploding," he said. "I've never seen anything like it. It was the most amazing, terrifying thing you've seen."
The loss of homes and years of memories was also weighing heavily on the evacuees. Among them is 81-year-old local artist Harlene Schwander.
"My house is gone, all my furniture, all clothes, shoes, coats, boots," an emotional Schwander said. "Everything is gone."
Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue told the gathering that search teams had targeted 100 burned structures for inspection to see if there were more victims.
Along the fire lines crews were trying to take advantage of damp conditions and cloud cover to slow the advancing flames. Defensive lines had been strengthen to protect Yreka and Fort Jones -- the two largest communities threatened.
But Anzo admitted that "firefighters are facing some tough conditions."
Fire Behavior Analyst Dennis Burns said the moist conditions and rain showers along some of the fire perimeter slowed growth overnight and early Tuesday.
"We have very moist atmosphere, humidity is still about 60 percent and we are actually expecting some severe thunderstorms this afternoon," Burns said during his morning update. "Depending where they set up, if they set up over the incident we could see up to inch of rain. But if they set up further away and we get outflow winds, they could fan the fire."
The National Weather Service extended a Red Flag Warning in the area until 11 p.m. Tuesday for the fire area.
"This evening through early Tuesday morning an upper level impulse moving northward from the San Francisco Bay area is expected to increase shower and thunderstorm coverage across the forecast area," the weather service warned.