Seventh Person Killed as California’s Carr Fire Rages On

Authorities announced Sunday that a second firefighter has died battling the week-long Carr wildfire, which has claimed six other lives since it began this Monday. A spokesman for Ferguson Fire said that the slain firefighter sustained injuries while working on the front line of the blaze, and died before he could be treated in a hospital. This is the second death announced Sunday: Hours earlier, WILX10 reported that a sixth victim was killed after refusing to heed an evacuation warning. Neither of Sunday’s victims have been identified. A Sunday report from CBS News adds that firefighters have not made much progress in subduing the fast-growing fire, partially due to the hot and dry weather. “Right now it's going everywhere,” said a spokesperson for California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “Any event could bring this back up again.” The fire is now the largest burning in California, covering about 139 square miles, and only about 5 percent has been contained. A Cal Fire spokesperson noted that California has simultaneously been battling a series of other fires, adding that as of Sunday, 12,000 firefighters were working to subdue 17 fires. “We are well ahead of the fire activity we saw last year,” she told CBS. “This is just July, so we’re not even into the worst part of fire season.”