Raleigh North Carolina News

Authorities called in a mobile DNA lab and anthropologists to help identify the dead as the search went on for victims of the most destructive wildfire in California history. The overall death toll from the outbreak of fires at both ends of the state stood at 25 Sunday and appeared likely to rise. The worst of the blazes was in Northern California, where flames reduced the town of Paradise, population 27,000, to a smoking ruin…

By JONATHAN J. COOPER and ANDREW DALTON Associated Press MALIBU, Calif. Just a day ago, Arik Fultz was feeding the horses on his 40-acre ranch near Malibu. Now, after wildfires roared through parts of Southern California, there’s nothing left of his ranch but charred remains. His family and his 52 horses survived. But two houses, two barns, three trailers and decades of accumulated possessions are gone. “It just doesn’t feel real that it’s all gone,”…

Sacramento State’s home game against Northern Arizona was postponed on Saturday due to poor air quality from area wildfires. A rescheduled date and possible venue change has not been determined. Northern Arizona (3-6, 2-4) hosts North Dakota next Saturday while Sacramento State (2-7, 0-6) travels to UC Davis.

The air thick with smoke from a ferocious wildfire that was still burning homes Saturday, residents who stayed behind to try to save their property or who managed to get back to their neighborhoods in this Northern California town found cars incinerated and homes reduced to rubble. People surveyed the damage and struggled to cope with what they had lost. Entire neighborhoods were leveled and the business district was destroyed by a blaze that threatened…

By JONATHAN J. COOPER and ANDREW DALTON Associated Press MALIBU, Calif. Two people were found dead and scores of houses from ranch homes to celebrities’ mansions burned in a pair of wildfires that stretched across more than 100 square miles of Southern California, authorities said Saturday. The two bodies were found severely burned inside a car on a long residential driveway in Malibu, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Chief John Benedict said. The home is on…

Rich or not, famous or not, there was little reprieve Saturday from the California wildfires sweeping through towns as different as the star-filled oceanside enclave of Malibu and the modest communities nearby and in the state’s north. Lady Gaga, Martin Sheen and Kim Kardashian West were among the celebrities who joined thousands of others in evacuating from the affluent coastal city that is as well-known as its residents. Stars went online to share their worries,…

The Latest on California wildfires (all times local): 9:15 a.m. A wildfire in Southern California has more than doubled in size, and firefighters are searching through burned-out neighborhoods looking for new destruction from a blaze that has already destroyed 150 homes. Officials took advantage of calm conditions Saturday morning to assess damage and get a new map of a blaze that has now burned 109 square miles (282 square kilometers) in the hills and canyons…

Official media say the death toll from flash floods unleashed by heavy rains in Jordan has risen to 11, and that searches for missing people continue. Saturday’s reports came a day after floods struck in several areas of Jordan, including Petra, an ancient trading hub carved into rose-colored rock. Hundreds of Petra visitors ran for higher ground Friday as water surged through a narrow canyon leading to the Treasury, Petra’s main attraction. Government spokeswoman Jumana…

Firefighters hoped a narrow window of calm on Saturday would give them a chance to block Southern California wildfires that have marched on an inexorable path of destruction toward the sea. Winds that drove the flames through bone-dry hills and canyons north and west of downtown Los Angeles were expected to die down until Sunday, when they would build again to 35 mph with even higher gusts, forecasters predicted. In less than two days, the…

The Latest on California’s wildfires (all times local): 5:30 p.m. Fire officials say Southern California wildfires have burned 150 homes and that number will rise. Authorities also announced Friday that a quarter of a million people are under evacuation orders as wind-whipped flames rage through scenic areas west of Los Angeles and burn toward the sea. At a news conference, officials said 75 percent of the Ventura County city of Thousand Oaks has been emptied….

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) — The City Of Fayetteville is “Delivering Good.” It’s been nearly two months since Hurricane Florence devastated the coast and parts of the Sandhills. On Friday, the city teamed up with NOBLE, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement to help give flood victims a fresh start. “The community was impacted tremendously, so you know, $17 billion in damages, 53 people lost their lives, and several thousands of people who were uprooted…

MALIBU, Calif. — A California woman captured dramatic video as she drove through flames trying to flee the devastating Woolsey Fire in Malibu. Rebecca Hacket said she feared for her life as she drove down Kanan Road on Friday. Hackett told ABC had just left White Cloud Ranch, where she keeps horses. “I felt the strongest wind I ever felt in my life. The fire came so quickly. One minute it was calm and then…

A fast-moving wildfire in Southern California has scorched a historic movie site recently used by the HBO series “Westworld” and forced numerous celebrities to join the thousands fleeing flames that have claimed homes and prompted the total evacuation of the celebrity enclave Malibu. Kim Kardashian West, Scott Baio, Rainn Wilson and Guillermo del Toro are among numerous celebrities forced to evacuate their homes, in some cases hurriedly trying to arrange transport for their horses. Some,…

Miami Hurricanes forward Dewan Hernandez is sitting out the start of the season as the school and NCAA review his eligibility in the wake of a federal investigation into college basketball corruption. The school announced shortly before the tipoff of the team’s opener Friday against Lehigh that Hernandez would not play, but offered no details on the decision. Last month, a federal jury in New York found three men guilty of fraud for channeling secret…

The San Francisco 49ers shifted workout times Friday as smoke from a massive Northern California wildfire affected the air quality in the Bay Area. With the air quality rated at levels considered unhealthy, the 49ers worked out earlier so they could get off the field before conditions worsened. The team has been in contact with NFL officials to keep them updated about the situation, 49ers spokesman Bob Lange said. The 49ers don’t play until Monday,…