California Wildfire Kills 2, Prompting Mandatory Evacuations Amid Heat Wave

A California wildfire in the northern region of the state has scorched two people to death as temperatures continue to rise amid the forecasted heat wave.

Daily Mail reported that Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue announced the news on Sunday afternoon. However, he did not immediately release the names or other identifying details of the people who were killed in California's Mill Fire. The sheriff said that there is no easy way to do it.

LaRue and other officials did not comment on when people would be allowed back into their homes and power would be restored.

California Wildfire Mill Fire

The Mill Fire had rapidly taken over a neighborhood on the edge of the city of Weed, California, which prompted residents to follow the mandatory evacuations.

Officials said the fire's track had not expanded since Saturday morning, but the nearby Mountain Fire grew in size on Sunday.

Cal Fire's Dan McNamara said both fires are "still very dangerous." He added that there are a lot of hidden and unknown hazards and advised people to keep being alert, according to The Guardian News report.

Firefighters are still fighting the blaze near the Oregon border. The Mill Fire had also achieved about 25% containment. Meanwhile, firefighters had managed to contain 5% of the Mountain Fire.

Mill Fire had burned 50 structures and injured three people, with two of those being brought to a local hospital and one transferred to UC Davis Medical Center, according to Cal Fire.

Over 1,300 people were placed under evacuation as temperatures in Weed, California were forecasted to climb as high as 103 Fahrenheit in the coming days.

Weed, California has seen three major fires in eight years, while the largest wildfire seen so far was the McKinney Fire. It killed four in Siskiyou County, including a veteran fire lookout.

Cal Fire Siskiyou Unit Chief Phil Anzo said in a PBS News report that there is a lot of communities and a lot of homes in Weed.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Siskiyou County while providing a federal grant to ensure that the county has access to needed resources to fight off the fire.

California Heat Wave

Meteorologists noted that the projected heat wave in California will be "even more brutal" than expected, as reported by San Francisco Gate.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA took to Twitter with his projections about this week's weather. He noted that heat wave in the state is expected to be longer and "peak even higher." He added that the state currently has a possible "soon-to-develop" hurricane to look forward to.

National Weather Service's Monterey office forecaster Matt Mehle said that the persistence of heat waves is "definitely lasting longer" as compared to what was earlier forecasted. Mehle said that the California heat wave is "going to be a marathon, not a sprint."

Aside from the heat wave, California has experienced the largest and most destructive wildfires.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: California Faces Explosive Fire Amid Blazing Temperatures - from NBC News