A TEARFUL survivor of the devastating California wildfires filmed the moment he discovered charred bodies in cars as the death toll reached 23.

The harrowing footage shows the man returning to the road in Paradise, Butte County, which he narrowly managed to flee after abandoning his dogs and truck.

The unidentified man says one of his friends and their mother was among the tragic people who weren't able to escape the flames in time.

He says: "We got trapped down here, we couldn't get out.

"My friend that died, he was crippled, he's dead. That's just a horrific way to die."

Through tears, he continues: "Oh my god, I'm so lucky to be alive.

"I went down the canyon to a creek, it came over me and I thought I was going to die."

The distressing video was posted online by Matthew Strausbaugh, who says it was filmed by his uncle.

Earlier in the clip, which we have decided not to show, the man films the burned out cars covered it soot and ash.

Some had the remains of their tragic occupants inside.

The man says: "These people all got burned out. There's dead bodies in here. You can see the bones in the front seats.

"These people got burnt out in their cars like I almost did."

He explains how he had gone down to help people escape and fled, leaving his dogs inside his car - but suggests both survived the deadly inferno.

The man can be heard saying: "I cannot believe my Jeep and my dogs... I prayed. This is the Holy Spirit working for you. I mean, my dogs went through the fire."

It comes as the Northern California sheriff confirmed 14 bodies were recovered on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 23 in the massive wildfire.

Scores of houses - from ranch homes to celebrities' mansions - burned in the pair of wildfires, which stretched across more than 100 square miles of Southern California.

Two bodies were found in Malibu on Saturday, but Los Angeles County sheriff's Chief John Benedict offered no further details.

They were discovered in the area of a winding stretch of Mulholland Highway with steep panoramic views, which was now littered with rocks, a few large boulders and fallen power lines, some of them still on fire.

The deaths brings the number of people killed in the state's wildfires in the past few days to 11, with nine found dead in a Northern California wildfire.

Heartbreaking footage also emerged showing a dad singing to his daughter to reassure her as they drive through the horrific wildfires.

The father was driving the car with his three-year-old daughter in the back as flames tore into the Santa Monica Mountains and towards the ocean, causing chaos in the area and sparking mass evacuations.

His daughter can be heard telling him "there's so much fire here", but he assures her: "Hey guess what, we're not gonna catch on fire OK?"

He then sings to her: "Baby it will be alright".

After a while the video shows the car having passed through the flames, and his daughter can be heard saying: "Yay, you did it."

But he says to her: "We did it together."

Firefighters have saved thousands of homes despite working in "extreme, tough fire conditions that they said they have never seen in their life," Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said.

Those vicious conditions on Friday night gave way to calm Saturday, with winds reduced to breezes.

Firefighters used the lull to try to rein in the powerful blaze that had grown to 109 square miles (282 square km) and get a grasp of how much damage it did in its first two days.

Osby said losses to homes were significant but did not say how many had burned.

Officials said earlier that 150 houses had been destroyed and the number would rise. About 250,000 homes are under evacuation orders across the region.

Fire burned in famously ritzy coastal spots like Malibu, where Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian West, Guillermo del Toro and Martin Sheen were among those forced out of their homes amid a citywide evacuation order.

“Pray for Calabasas,” Kim Kardashian West wrote on her Instagram page. “Just landed back home and had 1 hour to pack up & evacuate our home. I pray everyone is safe.”

Kourtney Kardashian also posted about the emergency on her Instagram story, writing, “I pray that everyone is kept safe and protested from these fires. No Calabasas tonight.”

Movie star Will Smith even posted a video of the huge fire that is blazing in the hills near his $42 million Malibu home revealing daughter Willow, 18, was "nervous."

The 50-year-old Hollywood star gave his fans a glimpse of the conditions in an Instagram video posted on Friday.

He said: "We're probably about eight miles away from it. We haven't been told to evacuate just yet but Willow is nervous so she made me go outside and look make a daddy assessment.

"Our house is there... and the fire is right there. That is very scary. We are prepared to evacuate as soon as we get the word.

"If you are in the evacuation zone, go now," he warned.

Singer Cher tweeted: "I'm worried about my house, but there is nothing I can do. Friends houses have burned. I can’t bear the thought of there being no Malibu I’ve had a house in Malibu since 1972."

Lady Gaga has already evacuated her cliff-top home and posted a pic of her leaving the drama with the message "sending my prayers to everyone today."

Melrose Place and Charmed star Alyssa Milano revealed she was also evacuating along with her horses.

Other stars who live in the area are Leonardo Dicaprio, John Cusack, Halle Berry, Rob Reiner, Edward Norton, Martin Sheen and Miley Cyrus.

Charlie Sheen took to Twitter to share concern that he could not get in touch with his father Martin Sheen.

Mel Gibson, Craig Ferguson, Kid Rock, Patrick Dempsey, Cindy Crawford and Jillian Michaels also live in the area.

Caitlyn Jenner, another famous resident, has lost her home, according to US media reports.

Her multi-million pound Malibu Hills home, which often features on reality show I Am Cait, is believed to have caught fire on Wednesday.

The flames also stretched into suburbs like Thousand Oaks, a city that just a few days ago saw 12 people killed in a mass shooting at a country music bar.

Wildfire raged on both sides of the city still in mourning, where about three-quarters of the population are under evacuation orders that officials urged them to heed.

Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks, whose district includes Thousand Oaks, said: "We've had a lot of tragedy in our community.

"We don't want any more. We do not want any more lives lost."

The area burning in Southern California is in severe drought, US government analysts said.

California emerged from a five-year statewide drought last year but has had a very dry 2018, pushing parts of the state back into drought and leaving others, like the area of the Northern California fire, abnormally dry.