Death toll climbs as California fires rage

Fire officials in Northern California continue to battle the most lethal outbreak of wildfires in the state's history, as the death toll rose to 35 and teams with cadaver dogs combed charred ruins for human remains.

The wind-driven blazes, which erupted on Sunday night in the heart of California's renowned wine country, north of San Francisco, have destroyed an estimated 5700 homes and businesses and forced the evacuation of at least 25,000 people.

The 35 confirmed fatalities - 19 in Sonoma County alone - mark the greatest loss of life from a single fire event on record in California, surpassing the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles.

With more than 200 people still missing on Friday in Sonoma County alone, and rubble from thousands of incinerated dwellings yet to be searched, authorities have said the number of fatalities from the so-called North Bay fires would likely climb higher.