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Wildfires Latest: Death Toll In Mendocino County Climbs To 9, Bringing California Fire Total To 35

SONOMA (CBS13/AP) - The latest on the wildfires burning in Northern California:

4:18 p.m.

Mendocino County authorities have confirmed a 9th fatality, bringing the toll of all fires to 35.

Mendocino County 9
Sonoma County 18
Napa 2
Yuba 4

4 p.m.

The death toll from the Northern California wildfires has climbed to 34 as the Napa County Sheriff's Department confirms two more fatalities.

Mendocino County 8
Sonoma County 18
Napa 2
Yuba 4

3:49 p.m.

3:44 p.m.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office is issuing a mandatory evacuation north of Hwy. 128 from Geysers Rd. to Chalk Hill Rd. If you are in this are you need to evacuate now due to fire, the office said on its Facebook page.

2:20 p.m.

California fire officials say wildfires across the state have chased about 90,000 people from their homes.

The evacuation figure was released Friday by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

CalFire says the majority of evacuations were for communities affected by fires in wine country north of San Francisco. Since igniting Sunday in spots across eight counties, the blazes have killed 32 people and destroyed at least 3,500 homes and businesses.

2:00 p.m.

Deputies have arrested a man suspected of looting in an evacuation area of Sonoma County, the county hardest hit by wildfires burning in Northern California.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office says deputies arrested Morgan Plumere, of Sonoma, on Thursday after he was spotted stealing sunglasses from a car in an evacuation area.

The office says deputies who searched him found the sunglasses, items that had been reported stolen from a local vineyard and an emergency fire shelter taken from firefighters.

Plumere was arrested for looting, possession of stolen property, possession of drug paraphernalia, Possession of prescription medications without a prescription and violation of probation.

Sonoma County prosecutors warned Friday every case of looting will be prosecuted.

1:20 p.m.

Authorities say they have found another body in Sonoma County, raising the death toll to 32 and making this the deadliest week of wildfires in California history.

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said Friday that 30 detectives continue to work on finding missing people and that his office has more than 200 pending reports of missing people.

Dozens of search and rescue personnel are on site at a mobile home park in Santa Rosa, California, searching for residents who didn't make it out before fire swept through.

Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 people, was one of the hardest-hit communities during the wildfires that ignited Sunday night.

At least 9,000 firefighters from across the state and the country are attacking the flames.

12:35 p.m.

Dozens of search and rescue personnel are on site at a mobile home park in Santa Rosa, California, with the grim task of searching for residents who didn't make it out before fire swept through.

Sonoma County Sheriff's Sgt. Dave Thompson says officers recovered bone fragments from one person Friday morning. He says there's a "high probability" they'll find more.

Officials believe there may be two or three more bodies in the leveled remains of the mobile home park.

Thompson calls it "very tedious work." A crew of men and women in white suits are standing by.

Fire tore through the Santa Rosa area early Monday, leaving only a short window for people to try to escape from the flames.

12:30 p.m.

Fire officials say thousands of firefighters have poured into California in the last 24 hours and that more than 9,000 are now fighting several major blazes.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Chief Ken Pimlott says the additional crews helped make gains overnight.

He says that two of the biggest blazes burning in Sonoma and Napa Counties are now at least 25 percent contained.

Pimlott says dangerous fire weather is forecast for this weekend and that additional fire crews and equipment will be ready to deploy should new fires ignite.

Blazes burning across eight counties have killed 31 people since Sunday and destroyed at least 3,500 homes and businesses.

10:30 a.m.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it suspended immigration enforcement operations in the areas of Northern California affected by almost raging wildfires.

ICE says in a statement Friday it won't carry out immigration checks at evacuation sites, or assistance centers such as shelters or food banks until further notice.

It says in a statement Friday that it will make an exemption if there is a public safety threat.

Local authorities on Friday again assured people that no one will ask for their legal status. Rumors haven been swirling on social media that immigration officials are rounding up immigrants at shelters.

Northern California's vineyards and other farms rely heavily on immigrant workers, many of them living in the country illegally.

10:01 a.m.

Smoke from the wildfires north of San Francisco plunged air quality levels in the Bay Area to the same unhealthy level as China's notoriously polluted capital, sending people to emergency rooms and forcing schools to close and people to wear masks when they step outside.

The region has endured days of choking smoke since the fires began Sunday night and claimed at least 31 lives and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.

Air quality in most of the region Thursday and Friday was as bad as smog-choked Beijing, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

"We have unprecedented levels of smoke and particles in the air that we normally don't see," said Ralph Borrmann, a spokesman for the district.

He called it the worst air quality ever recorded in many parts of the Bay Area.

Officials warned that very fine smoke particles, thinner than a human hair, can get lodged in the lungs and into the bloodstream, causing irreparable damage to the body. In Solano County, hospitals there received more than 250 people who complained of toxic air inhalation, county health officer Bela Matyas said Thursday.

7:20 a.m.

Firefighters gained some ground on a blaze burning in the heart of California's wine country but face another tough day ahead with low humidity and high winds expected to return.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Scott McLean says a blaze burning in Sonoma and Napa counties is 22 percent contained Friday.

Thousands of firefighters are battling 21 wildfires spanning more than 300 square miles (777 square kilometers) and more crews are pouring in to help.

McLean tells Oakland television station KTVU that the blazes grew little overnight thanks to favorable weather but warns gusty winds and higher temperatures are forecast Friday.

Since igniting Sunday in spots across eight counties, the blazes have killed 31 people and destroyed at least 3,500 homes and businesses.

7:20 a.m.

Pope Francis says he's praying for all those who have lost loved ones or are searching for them in the wildfires devastating California.

Francis sent a telegram of condolence Friday to San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone and Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez.

In it, he offered his "heartfelt solidarity and his prayers for all those affected by this disaster."

He also encouraged emergency personnel who are helping out. In the telegram, signed by the Vatican secretary of state, Francis said he was particularly keeping in his prayers "those who mourn the loss of their loved ones and who fear for the lives of those still missing."

12:05 a.m.

Northern California communities have been battered from wildfires that are nowhere near over.

They're trying to save or recover what's left of their homes, find lost loved ones or mourn their dead, with the constant threat of the fires still looming.

The death toll climbed to 31 on Thursday, making it the deadliest week of wildfires in California history.

Hundreds more are injured or missing.

In areas where they were able, cadaver dogs were sniffing through the ashes.

A total of 21 fires spanning at least 300 square miles (777 square kilometers) are burning, most of them less than 10 percent contained.

Evacuees fled to friends' houses, shelters and even beaches.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.

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