Two more bodies were found in the burn zone of the monster wildfire raging north of San Francisco, authorities said Thursday, bringing the death toll to five from a pair of major wildfires in Northern California.
The remains are presumed to be those of Leonard Neft, a retired reporter for the San Jose Mercury News, who was reported missing on Monday, and of Bruce Burns, who was reported missing on Tuesday, authorities said.
The so-called Valley Fire, still only 35 percent contained, has destroyed almost 600 homes. Authorities have previously said that a 72-year-old disabled woman was killed Saturday, the day the fire broke out, when she could not escape her home.
And two people have been found dead in the Butte Fire burning in the Sierra Nevada foothills, outside Sacramento.
The Butte Fire, which broke out Sept. 9, is roughly half contained and has destroyed more than 250 homes. Each fire has torched more than 70,000 acres of land.
About 8,000 firefighters are battling the blazes. Four have been injured.
