Suspects Accused of Looting Evacuated Homes in California

Authorities in California have arrested two people on suspicion of looting homes that had been evacuated due to an explosive wildfire. The Sacramento Bee reports that 25-year-old Jade Ball and 19-year-old Jack Fannin, of Redding, were found with what police said was evidence tying them to several burglaries. The Carr Fire has prompted mandatory evacuations for tens of thousands of people in Redding, a city hundreds of miles north of San Francisco. It has destroyed more than 650 houses.

Authorities say a homeowner who stayed behind flagged down an officer after he noticed evidence that people had been in his house, the AP reports. Officers found a nearby home with evidence of a broken-in door and discovered electronic items stacked by the front door. Authorities say the Carr Fire is slowing after days of explosive growth, though thousands more people are fleeing their homes due to another fire near the town of Lakeport in northern California, and another firefighter has died fighting a huge blaze near Yosemite National Park. (The six people confirmed dead in the Carr Fire include two young children and their great-grandmother.)