Victims of California's North Complex wildfire burned to death in their cars and on roads as they tried to flee the massive inferno - as it's revealed DNA testing is the only way to identify charred remains
Several victims of California's North Complex wildfire burned to death in or near their cars as they desperately tried to escape the raging inferno.
On Thursday, investigators revealed that DNA testing has been needed to identify victims of the blaze, as their bodies were burned beyond recognition.
Forensics helped determine the identities of two locals who were found trapped in or near their vehicles.
The charred remains of Jacob Albright, 72, were found inside a car close to Berry Creek, authorities told local publication SFGate.
Meanwhile, the burned body of Paul Winer, 68, was also discovered a short distance away.
Winer was just 10-feet from his pick-up truck, and it appeared as if he was trying to flee from the blaze on foot.
The body of a third person was discovered on a roadway just meters away. The name of that victim has not yet been determined, but investigators believe they were with Winer shortly before the fire roared through.
The Berry Creek area (a home pictured) has been nearly decimated by the North Complex Fire
The names of the new victims come after it was confirmed another Berry Creek resident also died inside of his car as the blaze ripped through the town last Thursday.
Phillip Ruble, 68, burned to death inside his Toyota pickup truck on his property.
It's believed he was in the process of trying escape with his companion Millicent Catarncuic, 77, before the blaze moved in.
Catarncuic was found dead in a nearby embankment.
Family members say the pair were preparing to evacuate the area when they changed their minds based on 'erroneous information' that the wildfire was 51 per cent contained.
Phillip Ruble, 68, (right) burned to death inside his Toyota pickup truck on his property. It's believed he was in the process of trying escape with his companion Millicent Catarncuic, 77, (left) before the blaze moved in
Several victims of the North Complex Fire burned to death inside their vehicles as they tried to escape the blaze
Grandmother e Sandra Butler, 75, died in the fire alongside her long-time husband
John Butler, 79, is one of the 15 confirmed fatalities
Elsewhere, the identities of several other victims have also been determined.
Randy Harrell, 67; Mark De La Gardie, 61; Ken Lee, 64; Jorge Hernandez-Juarez, 26; Khawar Bhatti, 58; and Josiah Williams, 16, all died in the North Complex fire.
Grandfather John Butler, 79, and his wife Sandra, 75, also perished.
The Butlers' granddaughter-in-law, Jessica Fallon, says her family has been left devastated by their deaths.
'God is very lucky to have gained both of those beautiful angels,' she told KRCR News.
So far the death toll from the North Complex fire still stands at 15.
More than a dozen remain people remain missing.
The North Complex Fire is the eighth largest in California history. It has torched more than 273,000 acres and destroyed nearly 800 structures.
Dozens of other fires have burned some 4.5 million acres of tinder-dry brush, grass and woodlands in Oregon, California and Washington state since August, ravaging several small towns, destroying thousands of homes and killing at least 34 people.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) said 16,600 firefighters were still battling 25 major fires after achieving full containment around the perimeter of other large blazes.
Meanwhile, eight deaths have been confirmed during the past week in Oregon, which became the latest and most concentrated hot spot in a larger summer outbreak of fires across the entire western US. The Pacific Northwest was hardest hit.
The fires roared to life in California in mid-August, and erupted across Oregon and Washington around Labor Day last week, many of them sparked by catastrophic lightning storms and stoked by record-breaking heat waves and bouts of howling winds.
Cal Fire firefighters survey a property that was destroyed by the blaze in Berry Creek
THE FIRES ARE BEING STARTED BY DIRECT ENERGY WEAPONS !!!
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