California wildfire death toll rises to 38, earthquake hits Mendocino County

Oct. 14 (UPI) -- At least 38 people have been killed and hundreds more remain missing as multiple wildfires continue to burn throughout Northern California.

Two more people were confirmed dead on Friday as the bodies of 89-year-old Dr. George Chaney and a 79-year-old Edward Stone were recovered from their home in Napa.

The Los Angeles Times reported 20 people have died in the Tubbs fire in Sonoma County, eight in Mendocino County, four in Yuba County and six in Napa County.

In all, more than 220,000 acres have been scorched since the wildfires broke out on Sunday.

Cal Fire said one of the wettest winters on record followed by a hot, dry summer has left much of the state with an unprecedented amount of fuel for wildfires. Experts use a formula that takes into account a variety of environmental factors to determine the potential for a wildfire, producing a number known as the energy release component. Cal Fire spokesman Mike Smith said that number Saturday was the highest "in recorded history."

Adding to the challenge, a 4.0-magnitude earthquake also struck near Redwood Valley in Mendocino County, where fires have burned more than 34,000 acres.

"It was a shaker," Ukiah Valley fire Capt. Pete Bushy told the Press Democrat.

With rapid evacuations across large swaths of northern California, the missing person total has skyrocketed.

Sheriff Rob Giordano said about 235 people remain unaccounted for in the wake of the Sonoma County fires. There have been 1,485 reports of missing people in the county and of those, 1,250 have been located safe.

The Napa County Sheriff's Office said deputies have received 156 reports of missing people, which can involve more than one individual and of which 105 reports have been cleared. Forty-seven remain outstanding.

Cal Fire officials reported a pair of fires in Mendocino County destroyed 314 homes and two businesses, while roughly 1,000 buildings remain threatened.

Fires in Sonoma county threatened 33,943 buildings, damaged 60 structures and destroyed 2,017 buildings -- including the home of deceased Peanuts comic strip creator Charles Schulz.

"The things that they lost in there are irreplaceable," his son Monte Shulz told CNN. "It's not just the memorabilia. It's that life that my stepmother had with him. It's completely gone."