As deputies patrolled a mountain area closed off due to a raging wildfire, they stumbled on human skeletal remains, a sheriff’s department says.

Investigators in San Bernardino County have launched an investigation after human skeletal remains were found off the highway in Running Springs, officials announced Sunday afternoon. The discovery of the remains happened just before 4 p.

Thousands of firefighters aided by cooler weather made progress Saturday against three Southern California wildfires, and officials in northern Nevada were hopeful that almost all evacuees from a blaze there could soon be home.

The remains were discovered Saturday afternoon within a the Line Fire evacuation zone in Running Springs, but were believed to pre-date the fire.