Two people have been found dead in burn areas as the Woolsey and Hill fires roar on in Southern California, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Chief John Benedict confirmed.
“Sadly and tragically, I am reporting today that we have two fatalities that occurred in the fire area,” Chief Benedict said at a news conference Saturday, according to KTLA. “That is currently under investigation. We have our homicide investigators on scene, and we’ll treat that as a fatality at this point, and we’ll have more to talk about that later on as the investigation unfolds.”
According to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Information Bureau, the two victims were discovered on the 33000 block of Mulholland Highway in Malibu on Friday at 4:43 p.m. No official cause of death has been released.
Chief Benedict added that the sheriff’s department is utilizing over 200 deputies to secure the property.
“Those deputies are out there to [sic] particularly just to provide security for that property,” he said. “So just to let you know, there is zero tolerance for any looting. If you have any qualms of going up and doing such things, you will be arrested. You will be prosecuted.”
The Woolsey fires broke out late Thursday evening, affecting the Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Calabasas, Agoura and Hidden Hills areas of Southern California. Many stars like Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Caitlyn Jenner, Rainn Wilson and Guillermo del Toro have been forced to evacuate, with “Doctor Strange” director Scott Derrickson tweeting he had lost his home.
The Woolsey fire doubled in size to 70,000 acres overnight and forced the evacuation of over 250,000 people along the Ventura County-Los Angeles County border, Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said in a statement.
Blumenfield added, “The strong Santa Ana winds have made this fire unpredictable and the winds are expected to shift today which could mean new areas, including potentially the Western San Fernando Valley.”
As of Saturday evening it was 5 percent contained.
“The strong Santa Ana winds have made this fire unpredictable and the winds are expected to shift today which could mean new areas, including potentially the Western San Fernando Valley,” Blumenfield said.