Updated

The American Red Cross says it paid $688,000 for hotel rooms that went unused during last year's wildfires in Southern California.

The Red Cross said in a statement Thursday that the more than 6,000 unused rooms accounted for about 22 percent of total nights booked in hotels during the wildfires.

The statement says the Red Cross national headquarters will refund the amount to the people of Southern California by putting funds in a budget for a wildfire recovery program.

The Red Cross had already said it paid for many unused rooms but had not specified the amount until now.

The fires destroyed more than 2,000 homes and killed several people.