By Staff, Agencies

The remains of at least seven victims were recovered from the relentless wildfires in Butte County, California, taking the death toll to 10, Butte County Sheriff's Captain Derek Bell told reporters at a briefing on Thursday.

The blaze, known as the North Complex fire, is one of scores of wildfires tearing through the US West Coast.

In California, officials said some 64,000 people were under evacuation orders while crews battled 29 major fires across portions of the most populous US state.

About a third of those evacuees were displaced in Butte County alone, north of Sacramento, the state capital, where the North Complex wildfire has scorched more than 247,000 acres and destroyed over 2,000 homes and structures.

Wildfires have now burned over 3.1 million acres in California in 2020, marking a record for any year, with six of the top 20 largest wildfires in state history occurring in 2020.