One dead as California wildfires rage throughout state

A wildfire racing through an area in northern California has killed one person and left at least 40 buildings destroyed, authorities said Friday.

Authorities did not release other details on the death that has been blamed on the fire, which has threatened several hundred homes around the town of Hornbrook, Calif., near the border with Oregon.

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The Associated Press reported that it was unclear how many of the destroyed buildings were homes rather than garages, barns and other buildings in the rural area of about 250 people.

The fire is among several that have ravaged California as a heat wave hits the southern part of the state, with temperatures remaining around 100 degrees.

In Santa Barbara County, 20 homes were burned and hundreds more were threatened as winds pushed the fire on Friday night, according to authorities.

In San Bernardino National Forest, about an hour east of Los Angeles, a fire grew to 1,000 acres and prompted the evacuation of a town of 700 homes, while 1,000 households were ordered to evacuate in San Diego County after a handful of fires erupted there.