--- description: Officials have confirmed the first death resulting from the California wildfires: that of Virginia Pesola, 70, who was fleeing by car. title: A 70-Year-Old Woman Died While Fleeing Calif. Wildfires image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [California](/tag/california/) ## California Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Woman Fleeing in Car Is First Death Linked to Raging California Wildfires  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Dec 9, 2017 2:53 PM CUT  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Dec 9, 2017 2:53 PM CUT Authorities have confirmed that a woman found dead in her car in Santa Paula, Calif., was the first casualty of [wildfires ripping through the state](http://time.com/5056165/california-wildfires-space/ "undefined"). Virginia Pesola, 70, was killed in a car crash Wednesday while driving along a fire evacuation route in an effort to escape the blaze, [the Associated Press reports](http://newsroom.ap.org/detail/text/US-California-Wildfires-The-Latest/51d5e183628c48c6b3e2fd50aa94ec9f?Query=wildfire&mediaType=text&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=68¤tItemNo=5 "undefined"). She was found in her vehicle in Wheeler Canyon. On Friday, “blunt force trauma to the head with terminal smoke inhalation and burns” was announced as her cause of death, according to AP, and the [coroner declared hers the first death connected to the wildfires](http://newsroom.ap.org/detail/text/US--APNewsAlert/9611b4759afb49c9b74e16502e70596a?Query=wildfire&mediaType=text&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=68¤tItemNo=6 "undefined"). While no other deaths have been reported in connection with the fires, more than 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes, [the Los Angeles _Times_ reports](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-fire-mainbar-la-20171207-story.html "undefined"). The fires have burned through thousands of acres in Southern California, closing schools, businesses and roads as they go. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5057265/california-wildfires-first-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5057265/california-wildfires-first-death/"},"headline":"Woman Fleeing in Car Is First Death Linked to Raging California Wildfires","datePublished":"2017-12-09T14:53:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:30:38.485Z","description":"It's the first death connected to the fires","url":"https://time.com/5057265/california-wildfires-first-death/","keywords":["California","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/california/","name":"California"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5057265/california-wildfires-first-death/","name":"Woman Fleeing in Car Is First Death Linked to Raging California Wildfires"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Californian Communities Are Under Siege as Destructive Wildfires Continue Their Rampage","description":"A brush fire driven by gusty winds that have plagued Southern California all week exploded rapidly Thursday north of San Diego, destroying dozens of mobile homes in a retirement community and killing race horses at an elite training facility.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/AybtsRL5/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-12-08T07:21:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AybtsRL5.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5057265/california-wildfires-first-death/","duration":"PT59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5057265/california-wildfires-first-death/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```