Medical officials confirmed the first fire-related fatality in Southern California’s most recent spate of wildfires to HuffPost on Saturday. Virginia Pesola, 70, of Santa Paula was found in a car that had crashed along an evacuation route in Ventura County ― north of Los Angeles ― on Wednesday night, a representative for the county medical examiner’s office said. Her cause of death is listed as blunt force trauma along with terminal smoke inhalation and heat-related injuries. The blaze devouring Ventura County, known as the Thomas Fire, is currently the largest out of several wildfires raging in the region, burning through over 148,000 acres so far and requiring use of 575 fire engines to help contain it. Evacuation orders were lifted for portions of the area on Saturday, however, as the blaze reached 15 percent containment.

Source: Huffington Post December 09, 2017 23:03 UTC