Authorities geared up for another grueling day of rescues Friday as the death toll from the Northern California wildfires continued to rise.

At least 32 people have died as 21 fast-moving blazes have roared across a 300-square-mile area, about the size of New York City . Most of the fires were less than 10 percent contained as of Thursday, with about 8,000 firefighters working to extinguish them.

We are not even close to being out of this emergency, Sheriff Rob Giordano said at a news conference Thursday evening.

Seventeen fatalities have come in Sonoma County. Other deaths have been reported in Mendocino County (eight), Yuba County (four), and Napa County (two).

The 32 deaths have set a new state record for the deadliest spate of wildfires in California history. The second-deadliest event was in 1933, when a fast moving brush fire in Los Angeles Griffith Park killed 29 people and injured more than 150.

We will do everything in our power to locate all the missing persons, Giordano said. And I promise you we will handle the remains with care and get them returned to their loved ones.

The Sonoma County Coroners Office identified 10 people killed in the county, eight of whom were in their 70s or older. Giordano said authorities had begun searching for those killed by the blazes.

We have recovered people where their bodies are intact, he said, before noting that officials have recovered people where theres just ash and bone.