As public works crews cleaned up a rural Southern California area after the Tick Fire, they noticed something strange sticking out from the ashes.
It was a human skull.
By late Sunday, the Tick Fire had burned through about 4,615 acres and was 70 percent contained. Investigators were called to a stretch of Sand Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, where they found human remains believed to be about a year old, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
“We believe that it was concealed in brush and then the fire burned away the concealment and it’s led to the discovery,” Lt. Derrick Alfred told CNN affiliate KCAL.
The area is remote, affiliate footage showed.
There are no houses nearby, the roads wind around mountains and hills are steep.
So authorities have launched an investigation.
“It’s definitely suspicious just on the location alone,” Alfred told the affiliate. “I mean, it’s not a common place where a person may fall ill and die.”
Clues—like clothes and any kind of identification—were likely burned in the fire, the news station reported, citing officials.
The Tick Fire had destroyed 24 residences and damaged another 36 by Sunday evening, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
Nearly 200,000 Californians Fled Their Homes
A massive blaze forced nearly 200,000 people out of their homes and a power shutoff left about a million in the dark across Northern California on Sunday.
The utility company behind the shutoff said some customers may remain without power until Thursday, following another possible planned outage later this week.
The fire’s flames were fanned by what Gov. Gavin Newsom called a “historic” wind event, adding “fire weather conditions are unprecedented due to the scale, scope, wind speed and dry fuel conditions.”
“We are deploying every resource available, and are coordinating with numerous agencies as we continue to respond to these fires,” he said in a statewide emergency declaration. “It is critical that people in evacuation zones heed the warnings from officials and first responders.”
The Kincade Fire in Sonoma County has so far scorched more than 54,000 acres and destroyed nearly 100 structures. It was only 5 percent contained late Sunday, officials said, down from 10 percent over the weekend.
There was a second blaze burning in the state late Sunday. The Tick Fire, near Santa Clarita in the southern portion of the state, had destroyed 24 residences and damaged another 36, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said, adding the fire was 70% contained.
In response to the winds, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) shut off power to about 965,000 customers in northern portions of the state. An additional 100,000 lost power for other reasons, said Mark Quinlan, PG&E’s incident commander.
About 30,000 had their power restored early Monday morning, PG&E said. But other customers may be without power for a while.
The company said Sunday it was looking at another “widespread, strong and dry wind event” Tuesday through Wednesday which could prompt another public safety power shutoff.
“PG&E will make every effort to restore power to as many customers as possible who are currently out of power,” the company said Monday morning.
“However, due to the dynamic and changing weather conditions, and high fire risk, some customers who are currently out of power may remain out throughout the duration of the next potential PSPS event.”
The next shutoff could affect parts of 32 counties in Northern California, the company said.
The upcoming wind system will push through the state Tuesday, Guy said, and Northern California will bear the brunt of it.
Though winds aren’t forecast to be as strong as the current system, it’ll still create dangerous fire conditions.