Raging wildfires leave trail of devastation in California – in pictures

There were scenes of destruction across California as wildfires torched homes in the south and eviscerated a historic community near the Oregon border.

The Fairview fire, which started on Monday near the city of Hemet, quickly spread to at least 2,400 acres (971 hectares), prompting evacuations for the city 50 miles south-east of Los Angeles, the Riverside county fire department said. Two people were killed and multiple residential structures burned.

South of the Oregon state line, the Mill fire was 55% contained on Tuesday morning after killing two people, injuring others and destroying at least 88 homes and other buildings since it erupted last week, Cal Fire said. The bodies of two women, 66 and 73, were found in the city of Weed on Friday, the Siskyou county sheriff's office announced Monday.

The Mill fire appears to have started near a commercial building and spread to nearby homes in the historically Black community of Lincoln Heights within minutes, the Los Angeles Times reported