Wildfire kills 2 in Northern California


A wildfire has killed two people in Northern California, the Siskayou County Sheriff's Department said Sunday. The Mill Fire broke out about 280 miles north of San Francisco in the town of Weed on Friday, and burned more than 4,000 acres in two days.
Cal Fire said in a preliminary damage report that at least 123 structures had been affected, and 50 destroyed. Fire crews had the fire 25 percent contained by late Sunday, and were preparing to let some residents who evacuated go home. Another blaze, the Mountain Fire, that started 15 miles to the west near the city of Gazelle burned more than 8,000 acres and was 10 percent contained as of late Sunday.
Separately, a severe heat wave hit parts of Southern California with record temperatures over the weekend, increasing the risk of power outages and fires on the Labor Day holiday. Highs were expected to reach 105 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit across parts of the San Fernando, San Gabriel, and Santa Clarita valleys, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 13, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - waiting it out, hiring freeze, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 cracking cartoons about broken nest eggs
Cartoons Artists take on plummeting value, sound advice, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Mental health: a case of overdiagnosis?
Talking Point
By The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine is experiencing an 'ecocide' and wants Russia to pay
Under the radar The environment is a silent victim of war
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
How wild horses are preventing wildfires in Spain
Under The Radar The animals roam more than 5,700 hectares of public forest, reducing the volume of combustible vegetation in the landscape
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists invent a solid carbon-negative building material
Under the radar Building CO2 into the buildings
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Dozens of deep-sea creatures discovered after iceberg broke off Antarctica
Under the radar The cold never bothered them anyway
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Severe storms kill dozens across central US
Speed Read At least 40 people were killed over the weekend by tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Earth's climate is in the era of 'global weirding'
The Explainer Weather is harder to predict and more extreme
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Hot to go: extreme heat can make people age faster
Under the radar New research shows warming temperatures can affect biological age
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Parts of California are sinking and affecting sea level
Under the radar Climate change is bringing the land to the sea
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published