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Thread: 83 people perished when a fire broke out in Paradise, California

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    83 people perished when a fire broke out in Paradise, California

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/ca...221349345.html

    A forest fire in Butte County forced large-scale evacuations Thursday morning in Paradise, a Northern California town of about 26,000 residents, and left thousands of people without power.

    Fueled by winds of up to 50 mph, the fire grew from 1,000 acres to 5,000 acres by 9:23 a.m.

    PG&E said about 14,000 residents of Butte and Plumas counties were without power due to fire activity and requests from firefighters to cut electricity in certain areas for safety. PG&E spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo said in an email that no proactive outages have yet been ordered, though an extreme weather window remains in effect until noon.

    At least two California Highway Patrol units had their vehicles disabled and surrounded by fire, leaving the officers to escape on foot, according to live dispatch radio traffic available on Broadcastify.com. The dispatcher can be heard sending fire crews to assist the officers at about 9:45 a.m.

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    Mandatory evacuation orders went into effect Thursday morning for the communities of Pulga, Paradise and Concow, as well as all of Pentz Road east of Highway 70, as of 8 a.m., according to Cal Fire?s incident report page and a post by Butte County Sheriff?s Office on Facebook. Advisories are in place for zones 2, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13, the Sheriff?s Office said.

    An evacuation zone map can be found here.

    Other first responders on Broadcastify can be heard telling dispatchers ?Don?t know if we can get much more through,? and ?It?s not looking good for people to get out,? referring to heavy traffic along evacuation routes.

    The fire and evacuations led to gridlock traffic on Skyway in Paradise with dispatch radio traffic indicating multiple civilians had also abandoned their vehicles. Several fire officials reported flames were about 15 yards from major roadways about 9:45 a.m.

    Two separate calls to dispatch by emergency responders reported a woman in labor with a ?high-risk? pregnancy was in a vehicle on the side of Clark Road in the evacuation zone.

    Multiple structures were damaged or destroyed near a hospital on Pentz Road as of about 9:45 a.m., one dispatcher said, but the hospital remained undamaged at that time.

    Flames were seen at a mobile home park on Pentz Road, according to scanner traffic.

    Scanner traffic also indicated reports of at least one burn victim being transported by EMS, and a ?heavy impact on civilians? in Paradise.

    A fire official told dispatch about 10:05 a.m. that vehicles were evacuating southbound Skyway toward New Skyway in the direction of Paradise, but that it was slow moving. One engine told dispatch that the fire was ?too intense? to travel eastbound toward Skyway along at least two roads in the northeast part of Paradise.

    Butte County officials said on Twitter that an evacuation shelter opened at Oroville Nazarene Church at 9 a.m. A second shelter will open at 10 a.m. at Neighborhood Church in Chico.


    The blaze has been named the ?Camp Fire,? because it originated near Camp Creek and Pulga roads near Feather River Canyon Thursday morning, Cal Fire said in a tweet.

    Highway 191 is closed at Highway 70 due to the fire, Caltrans said on Twitter.

    At 9:06 a.m., Cal Fire?s Butte Unit tweeted that the fire is ?very dangerous,? and urged people to follow evacuation orders.

    Bill Rasch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento, said wind gusts hit at least 50 mph Thursday morning and similar gusts could be possible throughout the evening. A red flag warning remains in effect until Friday morning, though Rasch said he expects the winds to begin to get calmer by Thursday evening.

    Paradise is an incorporated town in the foothills east of Chico. It?s about an hour and 45 minute drive from Sacramento.

    Butte is one of eight counties in which Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has announced a potential planned power shutoff event that could begin Thursday.


    PG&E announced the possible shutoff earlier this week in light of forecasts for high winds and dry conditions creating high fire risk in a large portion of Northern California. National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning, in place Wednesday night through the end of the week.

    http://mydeathspace.com/article/2018...se,_California

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    https://www.kcra.com/article/butte-c...place/24838602

    https://krcrtv.com/news/butte-county...r-river-canyon


    Update the Butte County fire has hit 18k Acres and evacuations are taking place.

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    I came here because I misread the title as "Something-Something Wildfire Explodes in Butt" tbh
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    Just as I suspected. A ring of elderly pedophiles.
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    Fucking piece of shit, fucking scum, internet ass holes. fucking ingrate no life having fat ass. you have no fucking clue at whats going on fuck tard shit for brains.

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    https://www.kcra.com/article/wildfir...gions/24856172

    Update in this report the Smoke from Butte County Fires are heading to the Sacramento Valley.

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    https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...tions-ordered/

    Update 5 People are reported dead in the Butte COunty Fire

    CHICO (CBS SF) — At least five people are known dead in a massive Northern California wildfire that has quadrupled in size in less than a day, destroying entire communities in its wake.

    The Butte County Sheriff’s Office said the five people were found in dead in vehicles torched by flames of the Camp Fire near Chico which has grown to 70,000 acres and was just five percent contained. The victims were all found in the town of Paradise, where all 27,000 residents were ordered to evacuate Thursday.

    Butte County Sheriff Korey Honea told television stations KHSL/KNVN in Chico that additional reports of deaths are being investigated.


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    Dozens of people are missing in the wildfire area and social media has been inundated with desperate pleas from people looking for their missing loved ones. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said at least 2,000 buildings have been destroyed in the wildfire, with Paradise among the most impacted.

    “The Camp Fire has been an extremely challenging fire and has resulted in significant and catastrophic loss for that community, the community of Paradise specifically,” said Director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Mark Ghilarducci at a Friday morning press conference. “We know that there have been injuries and we know that there has been loss of life and we are still accounting for that.”

    The University of California, Davis Medical Center said it was treating seven burn victims from the fire and was ready to help other hospitals if needed.


    UC Davis Health

    @UCDavisHealth
    We have received 7 burn inpatients from the #ButteCounty #CampFire. We send our support to those impacted by the fire and those fighting the fire. We are here to help our sister hospitals Enloe Medical Center, Oroville Hospital and Rideout Regional Medical Center if they need us.

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    Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean said the blaze had roared into some neighborhoods in Chico early Friday, but firefighters were able to halt its advance.

    Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told the Chico Enterprise Record there were reports of multiple fatalities, but authorities were trying to verify how many.

    At least 400 welfare checks had been requested by worried families searching for loved ones who have not been heard from since the firestorm roared through Paradise on Thursday.

    Meanwhile, crews from across Northern California raced to battle the firestorm including those from San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Alameda, Oakland and others from the Bay Area cities.

    By Friday morning, more than 2,000 firefighters were on the lines.

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    https://www.abc10.com/article/news/l.../103-612969687

    Update

    Camp Fire: PG&E says it had problem near site of fire | Updates
    Pacific Gas & Electric Co. says it experienced a problem on an electrical transmission line near the site of a massive fire in Northern California minutes before the blaze broke out.
    Author: Associated Press, Staff, ABC10, Redding Record Searchlight, Don Thompson, PAUL ELIAS
    Published: 6:49 AM PST November 9, 2018
    Updated: 4:49 PM PST November 9, 2018
    If you're viewing on the ABC10 App, tap here for multimedia.

    4:45 p.m. update:

    Pacific Gas & Electric Co. says it experienced a problem on an electrical transmission line near the site of a massive fire in Northern California minutes before the blaze broke out.

    PG&E filed a summary on Thursday saying that it had experienced an outage on the line about 15 minutes before the fire started. The company said it later observed damage to a transmission tower on the line near the town of Paradise.


    The fire has killed at least five people and destroyed hundreds of homes.

    Fire officials have not determined a cause for the fire at this time. The filing was first reported by KQED News.

    4:30 p.m. update:

    A day after a Northern California wildfire forced tens of thousands to evacuate, dozens of people are unaccounted for and relatives are flooding social media with desperate pleas for help finding them.

    Dozens of people, many of them elderly, remained unaccounted for.

    Debbie McCrea has lived on a quarter-acre lot in Paradise for about 40 years and has had to evacuate from wildfires several times. Usually she calls her sister and other relatives to let them know she's getting out.

    Not this time.

    Her brother-in-law Steve Christensen said she has trouble walking, and he is concerned that she hasn't called.

    Cherri Rolla lives in North Dakota and says a relative tried to get her 83-year-old aunt to leave her house in Paradise, but she refused. She is hoping her aunt made it to an evacuation center.

    4:22 p.m. update:

    Both Butte County Air Quality Management District and the California Air Resources Board have deployed "Purple Air" sensors to help monitor the smoke impacts in Butte County.

    Butte County AQMD notes that the data is experimental and unofficial but it will help provide additional information for official air quality data.

    View image on Twitter
    View image on Twitter

    Butte County AQMD
    @bcaqmd
    @bcaqmd with assistance from @AirResources has deployed additional "Purple Air" sensors to help monitor smoke impacts in Butte County. The data is experimental and unofficial, but will help supplement official air quality data. https://www.purpleair.com/map#8.96/39.5771/-121.6615

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    3:57 PM - Nov 9, 2018
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    An air quality report from the National Weather Service is available below:

    View image on Twitter
    View image on Twitter

    NWS Sacramento

    @NWSSacramento
    Areas of #NorCal will continue to experience poor air quality due to the #CampFire smoke. For more information, please visit http://airnow.gov . #CAwx

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    11:45 AM - Nov 9, 2018
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    4:15 p.m. update:

    With the Butte County website down, the county is using a Google Doc to provide current Camp Fire Information to its residents.

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    Butte County, CA

    @CountyofButte
    We have developed a Google Doc resource with current #CampFire information. This resource is being used while the Butte County website is unavailable. This site will be updated continuously. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...XpOjzEO4c/edit

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    3:58 PM - Nov 9, 2018
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    Butte County - Camp Fire Information
    Butte County - Camp Fire Information This resource is being used while the Butte County website is unavailable. This information is continuously being updated. Evacuation Orders are as follows (per...

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    4:10 p.m. update:

    The Camp Fire is currently burning on both sides of the Feather River, South of Jarbo Gap, according to Cal Fire's Butte Unit.


    CAL FIRE Butte Unit/Butte County Fire Department

    @CALFIRE_ButteCo
    Camp Fire is currently burning on both sides of the Feather River, South of Jarbo Gap. Many fire resources are working in this area. Continue to monitor @ButteSheriff @CALFIRE_ButteCo @USFSPlumas http://www.buttecounty.net for info OR for current fire info call 530-538-7826

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    4:06 p.m. update:

    ABC10's Michael Anthony Adam's is at the Camp Fire. As firefighters attempt to combat flames while dealing with wind gusts and a lack of water, they captured a fire whirl on camera.

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    https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/...transmissions/

    PARADISE — Downed PG&E power lines, amid high winds, may have sparked the deadly Camp Fire that has destroyed the town of Paradise and killed at least five people, according to hours of firefighter radio transmissions reviewed by Bay Area News Group.

    At about 6:33 a.m. Thursday, firefighters were dispatched to a vegetation fire “under the high tension power lines” across the Feather River from Poe Dam, where Cal Fire officials have pinpointed the fire’s origin, according to the transmissions. The first firefighters arrived there at 6:43 a.m and noted the fire was being buttressed by 35 mph winds.

    “We’ve got eyes on the vegetation fire. It’s going to be very difficult to access, Camp Creek Road is nearly inaccessible,” one firefighter told dispatch. “It is on the west side of the river underneath the transmission lines.”

    As firefighters rushed to Poe Dam early Thursday morning, each truck acknowledged over the radio “Copy, power lines down,” as part of safety protocol for firefighters.

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    The utility, which has already been criticized and sued in a number of other large and deadly fires across California, had announced two days earlier that it might shut down power to parts of Butte County amid forecasts of high wind and low humidity. But it never did.

    Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean emphasized the cause is still under investigation, but added that probe would include “electrical equipment.”

    PG&E spokesman Jason King said no cause of the fire had been determined.

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    https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...tions-ordered/

    Update

    CHICO (CBS SF) — At least nine people are known dead in a massive wildfire in Butte County that reached 90,000 acres Friday, leaving behind catastrophic damage to communities with thousands of homes and buildings destroyed in what quickly grew into the state’s most destructive fire in at least a century.

    UPDATE: PG&E Reports Power Line Problem Minutes Before Massive Butte County Fire Erupted

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    The Camp Fire near Chico was just five percent contained as of Friday at 6 p.m. and has destroyed at least 6,713 structures; of those 6,453 are homes, according to a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

    The town of Paradise, where all 27,000 residents were ordered to evacuate Thursday, appears to have taken the brunt of the fire damage with entire neighborhoods leveled.

    Butte County Sheriff Korey Honea said there were four more fatalities in addition to five dead reported earlier in the day. Honea said four of the earlier victims were found in dead in vehicles torched by flames while a fifth was found dead outside of a vehicle. Another victim was found inside a residence in Paradise and three more found outside of residences, Honea said. None of the victims have been identified yet.

    “I certainly understand there are people in our community who are aching to know what has come of their friends and family members,” said Honea. “This can be a long process in terms of identifying people and making notifications to the next of kin.”

    A total of 52,000 people have been evacuated from the wildfire area, according to Cal Fire. At least firefighters have been injured, said Cal Fire.

    RELATED: Dozens of people are missing in the wildfire area and social media has been inundated with desperate pleas from people looking for their missing loved ones. At a Friday afternoon press conference, Cal Fire said at least 6,713 buildings have been destroyed in the wildfire – most of them homes – with Paradise among the most impacted.

    President Donald Trump Friday issued an emergency declaration providing aid to help state and local firefighters fighting the Camp Fire, as well as the wildfires in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The money will help pay for firefighting aircraft along with shelter, supplies and transportation for the tens of thousands of evacuated residents.

    “The Camp Fire has been an extremely challenging fire and has resulted in significant and catastrophic loss for that community, the community of Paradise specifically,” said Director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Mark Ghilarducci at a Friday morning press conference. “We know that there have been injuries and we know that there has been loss of life and we are still accounting for that.”

    The University of California, Davis Medical Center said it was treating seven burn victims from the fire and was ready to help other hospitals if needed.

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    https://ktla.com/2018/11/10/trump-bl...st-management/

    Trump does a rant on the Wildfires

    President Trump blamed the latest California wildfires on ?gross mismanagement of the forests,? in a tweet on Saturday.

    ?There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests,? the president wrote.


    Donald J. Trump

    @realDonaldTrump
    There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!

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    Trump threatened to withhold federal funds from California, adding, ?Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!?

    The comments were Trump?s first about massive wildfires, including a blaze that incinerated most of the Northern California town of Paradise and killed at least nine people, along with the destructive fires in Southern California.

    California congressman Ted Lieu, a frequent Trump critic, responded to the president on Twitter, saying, ?Oh, and guess who owns much of the forest land in CA? Your federal agencies. CA only owns 2%. Guess who cut funding to forest management in the budget? YOU DID.?


    Ted Lieu

    @tedlieu
    Dear @realDonaldTrump: What is wrong with you? Disaster victims deserve help & sympathy.

    Oh, and guess who owns much of the forest land in CA? Your federal agencies. CA only owns 2%. Guess who cut funding to forest management in the budget? YOU DID.#SaturdayMorning Thoughts

    Donald J. Trump

    @realDonaldTrump
    There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!

    112K
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    The president is currently in Paris commemorating 100 years since the end of World War I, and meeting with European leaders on foreign policy.

    This is not the first time Trump has lashed out regarding California wildfires. In August, he said the fires are worsened by ?bad environmental laws.?

    ?California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren?t allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop fire from spreading!? Trump tweeted.

    California Professional Firefighters President Brian K. Rice issued the following response to the president?s threat.

    The president?s message attacking California and threatening to withhold aid to the victims of the cataclysmic fires is ill-informed, ill-timed and demeaning to those who are suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines.

    At a time when our every effort should be focused on vanquishing the destructive fires and helping the victims, the president has chosen instead to issue an uninformed political threat aimed squarely at the innocent victims of these cataclysmic fires.

    At this moment, thousands of our brother and sister firefighters are putting their lives on the line to protect the lives and property of thousands. Some of them are doing so even as their own homes lay in ruins. In my view, this shameful attack on California is an attack on all our courageous men and women on the front lines.

    The president?s assertion that California?s forest management policies are to blame for catastrophic wildfire is dangerously wrong. Wildfires are sparked and spread not only in forested areas but in populated areas and open fields fueled by parched vegetation, high winds, low humidity and geography. Moreover, nearly 60 percent of California forests are under federal management, and another two-thirds under private control. It is the federal government that has chosen to divert resources away from forest management, not California.

    Natural disasters are not ?red? or ?blue? ? they destroy regardless of party. Right now, families are in mourning, thousands have lost homes, and a quarter-million Americans have been forced to flee. At this desperate time, we would encourage the president to offer support in word and deed, instead of recrimination and blame.

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    http://www.capradio.org/articles/201...ss-than-a-day/

    Update 23 victims reported dead by the Butte COunty Fire.

    Update 6:30 p.m.

    Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said 14 more bodies have been uncovered in the massive Camp Fire, bringing the total known death toll to 23.

    The fire has burned 105,000 acres and is 20 percent contained.

    Cal Fire says there is no imminent threat to the city of Oroville, but residents should remain vigilant as strong winds were expected Saturday night into Sunday.

    Update 1:27 p.m.: (AP) - Authorities in Northern California have ordered residents to leave four small communities southeast of a town leveled by a deadly wildfire.

    The Butte County Sheriff's Office on Saturday issued an evacuation order for the communities of Berry Creek, Bush Creek, Mountain House, and Bloomer Hill.

    More than 50,000 people have been displaced by the blaze that has killed at least nine people and devastated the town of Paradise, where all 27,000 residents were ordered to evacuate.

    Update 11:57 a.m.: (AP) - The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says strong winds are expected to return Saturday night and could drive the Camp wildfire south, threatening Oroville, a town of 19,000 people.

    National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Hoon says the area will see sustained winds of up to 30 miles per hour (48 kilometers per hour) with gusts up to 50 mph (80 kph).

    The blaze that started Thursday outside the hilly town of Paradise has grown to 105,000 acres. Officials say the town has been completely destroyed.

    California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Cpt. Scott McLean says homes and other buildings in the town of Paradise are still burning and that crews are working to put out those blazes. The blaze has destroyed more than 6,400 homes and killed at least nine people.

    He says heavy smoke hampered aircraft from dropping fire-suppressing liquid Friday but that thinning smoke will allow crews to battle the blaze from the air before winds pick up Saturday night.

    McLean says more than 3,000 firefighters are making progress and more personnel is on the way.

    Original Post: (AP) — No one is left in Paradise. Abandoned, charred vehicles clutter the main thoroughfare, evidence of the panicked evacuation a day earlier as a wildfire tore through the Northern California community.

    Nine people have been found dead. Entire neighborhoods are leveled. The business district is destroyed. In one day, this Sierra Nevada foothill town of 27,000 founded in the 1800s was largely incinerated by flames that moved so fast there was nothing firefighters could do.

    The blaze that started Thursday outside the hilly town of Paradise has grown to 156 square miles (404 square kilometers) and destroyed more than 6,700 buildings, almost all of them homes, making it California's most destructive wildfire since record-keeping began. But crews have made gains and the fire is partially contained, officials said Saturday.

    The dead were found inside their cars and outside vehicles or homes after a desperate evacuation that Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea called "the worst-case scenario." Their identities were not yet known.

    "It is what we feared for a long time," Honea said, noting that there was no time to go door to door.

    With fires also burning in Southern California , state officials put the total number of people forced from their homes at more than 200,000. Evacuation orders included the entire city of Malibu, which is home to 13,000, among them some of Hollywood's biggest stars.

    President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration providing federal funding for Butte, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. He later threatened to withhold federal payments to California, claiming its forest management is "so poor."

    Trump tweeted Saturday that "there is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly fires in California." Trump said "billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!"

    Pacific Gas & Electric Co. reported to state regulators that it experienced a problem on an electrical transmission line near the site of the fire minutes before it broke out. The company had canceled plans to cut off power to the area because of high winds before flames ignited.

    The fire in Paradise, about 180 miles (290 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, was still burning out of control.

    A thick, yellow haze hung in the air, giving the appearance of twilight in the middle of the day. Some of the "majestic oaks" the town touts on its website still have fires burning in their trunks. Thick wooden posts holding up guardrails continued to burn.

    An evacuation order Thursday set off a desperate exodus, with frantic motorists getting stuck in gridlocked traffic. Many abandoned their vehicles to flee on foot as the flames bore down on all sides.

    "The fire was so close I could feel it in my car through rolled-up windows," said Rita Miller, who fled Paradise with her mother, who is disabled.

    The town, in a canyon between two ridges, was a popular retirement community, raising concerns about elderly and immobile residents who have been reported missing.

    On the outskirts of town, Patrick Knuthson, a fourth-generation resident, said only two of the 22 homes that once stood on his street are still there — his and a neighbor's.

    "The fire burned from one house, to the next house, to the next house until they were pretty much all gone," Knuthson said.

    He and neighbors used a backhoe to create a fire line, determined not to lose his house again.

    "I lost my home in 2008, and it's something you can't really describe until you go through it," said Knuthson, who battled flames 8 feet high or taller as strong winds whipped hot embers around him.

    He worked so long in the flames and smoke that he needed to use oxygen Thursday night at his home, but he refused to leave. On Friday, Knuthson was covered from head to toe in black soot. His tiny town will never be the same, he said. The bucolic country landscape dotted with bay and oak trees will take years to recover.

    In the town's central shopping area, there was little left but rubble.

    St. Nicolas Church still stands, a rare exception. The nearby New Life church is gone. An unblemished Burger King sign rises above a pile of charred rubble. Only blackened debris remains behind the Happy Garden Chinese Restaurant sign touting its sushi. City Hall survived. But the Moose Lodge and Chamber of Commerce buildings didn't.

    The town's 100-bed hospital is still standing, but two of its smaller buildings, including an outpatient clinic, are flattened.

    On the outskirts of Paradise, Krystin Harvey lost her mobile home. She described a town rich with historical charm, until a day ago.

    "It was an old country town. It had the old buildings lined up along the walkway," she said. "Almost all businesses were locally owned and included an assortment of antique shops, thrift stores, small restaurants, two bars and lots of churches."

    Harvey wondered if the town's traditions would survive. The town was famous for the discovery of a 54-pound gold nugget in the 1800s, which eventually prompted a festival known as Gold Nugget Days. The highlight of the festival is a parade that features a Gold Nugget Queen.

    "My daughter's going out for the gold nugget queen this year," said Harvey, then she paused. "Well, it's been going for 100 years, but we don't know — there's no town now."

    Drought, warmer weather attributed to climate change and home construction deeper into forests have led to more destructive wildfire seasons that have been starting earlier and lasting longer.

    Just 100 miles (160 kilometers) north, the Carr Fire near Redding was the sixth most destructive wildfire in California history and one of the earliest. It killed eight people in July and August, burned about 1,100 homes and consumed 358 square miles (927 square kilometers) before it was contained.

    Paradise town council member Melissa Schuster lost her 16-acre Chapelle de L'Artiste retreat, a posh property with a chapel, pond and pool. But she was clinging to hope.

    "It's Paradise," she said. "It's always been Paradise, and we will bring it back

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    https://abc7news.com/camp-fire-in-bu...nment/4667820/

    Update on the Camp Fire

    PARADISE, Calif. (KGO) -- The Camp Fire in Butte County has charred 109,000 acres total. The fire is 25 percent contained.
    View image on TwitterView image on Twitter

    CAL FIRE

    @CAL_FIRE
    #CampFire [update] Pulga Road at Camp Creek Road near Jarbo Gap (Butte County) is now 109,000 acres and 25% contained. Evacuations in place. Unified Command: @CALFIRE_ButteCo , @ButteSheriff, @paradise_ca, @CHP_Valley, and Paradise P.D.http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incid...ils/Index/2277 … …

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    RELATED: MAPS: A look at the Camp Fire in Butte County and other California fires

    At least 23 people have died in the fire, officials said on Saturday. Nearly 6,500 homes have burned. Tens of thousands of residents have had to evacuate to nearby areas.

    The fire began Thursday morning. In a report from PG&E, the utility explained that roughly 15 minutes before the deadly fire began turning the town of Paradise into an apocalyptic scene, PG&E detected a transmission line outage across the Feather River from Poe Dam.

    RELATED: Dispatch calls suggest downed PG&E power lines may have started deadly Camp Fire

    "Engine 2 is responding. Copy, possible power lines down," can be heard over the radio. The incident resulted in a power outage at 6:15 a.m.

    Cal Fire reported the Camp Fire started near that area at 6:33 a.m.

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    https://abc7news.com/mayor-of-paradi...-fire/4658082/


    Update The Mayor of Paradise responds to the fires.

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    https://www.abc10.com/article/news/c.../103-613434881

    Update

    2:00 p.m. update:

    Union officials say at least 39 firefighters lost their homes as they tried to protect thousands of others from two deadly California wildfires.

    International Association of Fire Fighters state service representative Tim Aboudara said Sunday that dozens of other firefighters' homes likely also burned.


    Fear, Volatility Transfer From October to November Markets
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    Officials have confirmed that 36 firefighters' homes were among thousands destroyed in Northern California, most when the Sierra Foothills city of Paradise was leveled. Three are confirmed lost in a Southern California blaze south of Simi Valley.

    The confirmed losses affect more than 110 family members and 75 pets. But all are believed to have escaped with their lives.

    Most worked for the state's firefighting agency, but some for the city of Chico and one who commuted to the San Francisco Bay Area.

    1:45 p.m. update:

    Caltrans has been ensure the first responders in the field are supplied as they combat the Camp Fire. Agencies from around the region and up and down the state have been helping with the wildfire.

    View image on Twitter
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    Caltrans District 3
    @CaltransDist3
    Caltrans Safety Vans have been out delivering supplies to first responders and crews in the field. This is just one way we show appreciation for cooperating agencies, while keeping teams fueled to respond to any emergency.

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    RELATED: Latest map and road closures in Butte County

    RELATED: "California Wildfires: The New Normal" is ABC10's new 9-part series on how wildfires are changing lives across Northern California

    Camp Fire: Scenes of the aftermath

    01 / 16 Pictured is a downed power line next to a burned car.02 / 16 Pictured is what is left standing of a Safeway store in Paradise, CA.03 / 16 Here is what is left of a home in Paradise, Calif.04 / 16 A power line went down near on intersection Ridgecrest Drive.05 / 16 A part of the powerline down on Ridgecrest Drive has sparked flames.06 / 16 Here is what is left of a home in Paradise, Calif.07 / 16 The remnants of the Paradise Inn.08 / 16 Here is a smoldering home fire.09 / 16 Another burned car in Paradise, Calif.10 / 16 Here is a car collision in Paradise,Calif., headed out of town.11 / 16 Here is a car burned in Paradise, Calif.12 / 16 Ken's Automotive Service is burned down in Paradise, Calif.13 / 16 Pictured are first respondents and a downed powerline in Paradise, Calif.14 / 16 Here is a photo of Skyway in Paradise, Calif.15 / 16 Here is another view off of Skyway in Paradise, Calif.16 / 16 Here is another image of Skyway in Paradise, Calif.
    1:30 p.m. update:

    The Northern California sheriff overseeing search and rescue in a deadly wildfire says he feels guilty and blessed that his family is safe while others are mourning the loss of homes and family.

    Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said at a press briefing Sunday that he is personally invested in anguished searches for missing family, including many who are frail and older.

    Honea said he would update numbers on the dead, which was 23 as of Saturday, later Sunday. The Camp Fire is the third-deadliest fire on record in California and the death toll appeared likely to rise.

    Relatives are trying to locate more than 100 people who are missing.

    Honea said investigators can't reach neighborhoods where there is active fire or downed power.

    1:20 p.m. update:

    While people collect themselves at the evacuation shelter, Ted Land spots some kindness from Jose Uriarte as he hands out food to people at the shelter from his food truck.

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    https://www.abc10.com/article/news/c.../103-613434881

    Update there are reports of 100 people missing due to the fires.

    If viewing on the ABC10 app, click here for multimedia

    4:42 p.m. update:

    The Camp Fire is now up to 111,000 acres burned, is 25 percent contained, and has resulted in 23 fatalities.

    Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott said the Camp Fire in northern California is one of the major fires currently going on in the state. He added that every available firefighting aircraft in the country is available to California and they are using those resources to their fullest extent to battle California's wildfires.




    "We're in this for the long haul. Again, we have firefighters deployed throughout the state working with many, many partners and will continue to do that until these conditions subside," Pimlott said.

    According to California Office of Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci, there are still about 100 people left unaccounted for in Butte County due to the Camp Fire. However, officials are still working to account for all the people impacted by the Camp Fire who may be in places other than shelters.

    4:12 p.m. update:

    In the days since a ferocious, wind-whipped wildfire began tearing through this Northern California town, residents who stayed behind to try to save their property or who managed to get back to their neighborhoods despite mandatory evacuation orders found cars incinerated and homes reduced to rubble. They have tales of harrowing escape and struggling to cope with loss.

    Oroville businesswoman Tracy Grant has taken in a 93-year-old World War II veteran who doesn't know if his home in Paradise is still standing after a deadly wildfire swept through.

    Grant said Sunday she was handing out hamburgers to evacuees Thursday at the Forebay Aquatic Center, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Paradise, when she encountered Lee Brundige in his car.

    He initially refused the hamburger she offered, saying she should give it to someone who really needed it. She tried to get him to a shelter, but he said he was fine sleeping in his car.

    The next day, she convinced him to come home with her when the sheriff's office told people to clear out of the parking lot due to worsening air.


    "He looks at me and kind of grunted, 'No I don't want to take advantage of anyone, you're too kind.' So I said, 'This is my car. You're going to follow that bumper until we stop," she said.

    Her small dog Axle has kept Brundige company in the recliner they share. Grant says Brundige's son knows he's safe but she posted his father's photo on social media so his friends know too.

    RELATED: Latest map and road closures in Butte County

    RELATED: "California Wildfires: The New Normal" is ABC10's new 9-part series on how wildfires are changing lives across Northern California

    3:25 p.m. update:

    A Northern California businesswoman has taken in a 93-year-old World War II veteran who doesn't know if his home in Paradise is still standing after a deadly wildfire swept through.

    Tracy Grant encountered Lee Brundige while she was handing out hamburgers to evacuees at the Forebay Aquatic Center in Oroville, which is about 20 miles south of Paradise.

    She says she convinced a reluctant Brundige to follow her home after sheriff's deputies told people to clear out of the parking lot because of the smoke and worsening air quality.

    Grant's boyfriend, Josh Fox, brought home bags of new clothes for Brundige. Her small dog Axle keeps Brundige company in the recliner they share.

    Brundige lived alone. His son in Southern California knows his father is OK.

    2:55 p.m. update:

    One of the Northern California fire's victims was an ailing woman whose body was found in bed in a burned-out house in Concow, near Paradise.

    Ellen Walker, who was in her early 70s, was home alone when the fire struck on Thursday, according to Nancy Breeding, a family friend.

    Breeding said Walker's husband was at work and called a neighbor to tell his wife to evacuate, but she was on medication and might not have been alert. He assumed she had escaped the inferno and was trying to find her at rescue centers until authorities confirmed her death late Friday.

    "Yesterday a fireman took him to the house to confirm, she apparently died in bed," Breeding said.


    "This is a devastating thing, and it's happening to so many people," she added.

    2:40 p.m. update:

    Anyone 18 years and under will be able to get a free meal from Chico Unified's Nutrition Services Department. Two sites will be opened at Little Chico Creek and Chapman Elementary School on Tuesday and Wednesday.

    Tuesday, November 13

    Lunch Only: 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
    Wednesday, 11/14 - Friday, 11/16

    Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
    Lunch: 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m.
    Little Chico Creek is located at 2090 Amanda Way, Chico, CA 95928, and Chapman Elementary School is located at 1071 16th St, Chico, CA 95928.

    2:25 p.m. update:

    The Butte County Sheriff's Office has activated a Missing Persons Call Center so people can receive information about missing persons from the Camp Fire.

    Operating hours will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

    To report friends or family that you believe are missing due to the Camp Fire call:

    530-538-6570
    530-538-7544
    530-538-7671
    The sheriff's office suggests making calls to the center even if the friend or family member has already been reported. Detectives can give information on the case's status and other details. The line can also be used to reported a located missing person as well.

    2:00 p.m. update:

    Union officials say at least 39 firefighters lost their homes as they tried to protect thousands of others from two deadly California wildfires.

    International Association of Fire Fighters state service representative Tim Aboudara said Sunday that dozens of other firefighters' homes likely also burned.

    Officials have confirmed that 36 firefighters' homes were among thousands destroyed in Northern California, most when the Sierra Foothills city of Paradise was leveled. Three are confirmed lost in a Southern California blaze south of Simi Valley.

    The confirmed losses affect more than 110 family members and 75 pets. But all are believed to have escaped with their lives.

    Most worked for the state's firefighting agency, but some for the city of Chico and one who commuted to the San Francisco Bay Area.

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    Whoa. I missed all of this. All these poor fucking people, these fires are terrifying.

    This is going to have to get moved to one of the death subs eventually, there are so many people confirmed deceased & so many more pix being shared of the missing

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    I keep hearing Paradise is completely gone. A friend of my dad's lives (lived) there. Her house is gone, her and her kids and 4 dogs barely made it out - she lost her 2 cats. This is so awful.

    The smoke here from it is bad, people are wearing masks (they are handing them out for free). I can't even imagine being where the fires are....breaks my heart.


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    https://www.abc10.com/article/news/l.../103-613434881

    Update 29 people reported dead due to the Paradise fire.




    he Butte County sheriff has confirmed 6 additional deaths from the Camp Fire, bringing the death toll to 29.
    Author: Staff, AP, ABC10 Staff
    Published: 7:49 AM PST November 11, 2018
    Updated: 6:22 AM PST November 12, 2018
    If viewing on the ABC10 app, click here for multimedia

    11 p.m. update:

    As wildfires continued to rage on both ends of California, officials released another grim statistic: six more dead in a swath of Northern California wiped out by fire, raising the death toll there to 29. It matched California's record for deaths in a single fire.


    Another 228 remain unaccounted for as crews stepped up the search for bodies and missing people. Two people were killed in a wildfire in Southern California.

    Ten search teams were working in Paradise — a town of 27,000 that was largely incinerated last week — and in surrounding communities in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Authorities called in a DNA lab and teams of anthropologists to help identify victims.

    Statewide, 150,000 remained displaced as more than 8,000 fire crews battled wildfires that have scorched 400 square miles (1,040 square kilometers), with out-of-state crews continuing to arrive. Whipping winds and tinder-dry conditions threaten more areas through the rest of the week, fire officials warned.

    "This is truly a tragedy that all Californians can understand and respond to," Gov. Jerry Brown said at a press briefing. "It's a time to pull together and work through these tragedies."

    Brown, who has declared a state emergency, said California is requesting aid from the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has blamed "poor" forest management for the fires. Brown said federal and state governments must do more forest management but that climate change is the greater source of the problem.

    "And those who deny that are definitely contributing to the tragedies that we're now witnessing, and will continue to witness in the coming years," he said.

    Drought and warmer weather attributed to climate change, and the building of homes deeper into forests have led to longer and more destructive wildfire seasons in California. While California officially emerged from a five-year drought last year, much of the northern two-thirds of the state is abnormally dry.

    Firefighters battling fire with shovels and bulldozers, flame retardant and hoses expected wind gusts up to 40 mph (64 kph) overnight Sunday.

    In Northern California, where more than 6,700 buildings have been destroyed, the scope of the devastation was beginning to set in even as the blaze raged on.

    Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the county consulted teams of anthropologists because, in some cases, investigators have been able to recover only bones and bone fragments.

    In some neighborhoods "it's very difficult to determine whether or not there may be human remains there," Honea said.

    RELATED: Latest map and road closures in Butte County

    Public safety officials toured the Paradise area to begin discussing the recovery process. Much of what makes the city function is gone.

    "Paradise was literally wiped off the map," said Tim Aboudara, a representative for International Association of Fire Fighters. He said at least 36 firefighters lost their own homes, most in the Paradise area.

    "Anytime you're a firefighter and your town burns down, there's a lot of feelings and a lot of guilt and a lot of concern about both what happened and what the future looks like," he said. "Every story that we've heard coming through has been that way, like 'I wish I could have done more, What's going to happen to our community, Where are my kids going to go to school?'"

    Others continued the desperate search for friends or relatives, calling evacuation centers, hospitals, police and the coroner's office.

    Sol Bechtold drove from shelter to shelter looking for his mother, Joanne Caddy, a 75-year-old widow whose house burned down along with the rest of her neighborhood in Magalia, just north of Paradise. She lived alone and did not drive.

    As he drove through the smoke and haze to yet another shelter, he said, "I'm also under a dark emotional cloud. Your mother's somewhere and you don't know where she's at. You don't know if she's safe."

    The 29 dead in Northern California matched the deadliest single fire on record, a 1933 blaze in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, though a series of wildfires in Northern California wine country last fall killed 44 people and destroyed more than 5,000 homes.


    Firefighters made progress against the blaze, holding containment at 25 percent on Sunday, but they were bracing for gusty winds predicted into Monday morning that could spark "explosive fire behavior," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Bill Murphy said.

    Fire officials are bracing for potentially more fires in Southern California's inland region as high winds and critically dry conditions were expected to persist into next week.

    "We are really just in the middle of this protracted weather event, this fire siege," Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott said.

    He said officials were moving resources and preparing for "the next set of fires" as winds are expected to pick up. The chief warned that fire conditions will continue until the parched state sees rain.

    "We are in this for the long haul," Pimlott said.

    We will update our website with the latest information. For immediate inquiries, call the CAL Fire public information line at (530)538-7826 or the Butte County Public Information line at (530)871-9440.

    8:52 p.m. update:

    The town of Paradise was one of the communities devastated by the Camp Fire.

    Prior to their community meeting, Paradise town manager Lauren Gill reached to Paradise residents through social media. Here's what she said:

    "Paradise...It is with a heavy heart that we reach out to all who have lost so much during the Camp Fire. There is so much devastation. Much of the physical aspect of our Town is gone, but our spirit remains," wrote Gill.

    "We will be forever changed by this tragedy and it will always be a part of the Town's history. A tragedy like this also changes us as individuals. I hope it makes me a stronger, better, more compassionate person. I am humbled by the heroic stories I am hearing about survival and hope. Although right now we are all heartbroken as we slowly realize the depth of our losses, we are also hopeful for tomorrow. Each step of our recovery will be long and arduous but we are strong and we love our community. We will get through this together and make Paradise better, safer and stronger."




    RELATED: "California Wildfires: The New Normal" is ABC10's new 9-part series on how wildfires are changing lives across Northern California

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    https://www.abc10.com/article/news/l.../103-613682890

    Update 228 People are reported missing in the Butte Fire

    Camp Fire growth slows as winds ease up Monday
    With 228 people still missing and the death toll currently at 29 people, Butte County officials said the number of dead could continue to rise as crews continue to search through the rubble for victims.
    Author: Redding Record Searchlight
    Published: 8:00 AM PST November 12, 2018
    Updated: 12:16 PM PST November 12, 2018
    If you're viewing on the ABC10 App, tap here for multimedia.

    Firefighters battling the Camp Fire in Butte County are expected to get a break from the winds Monday morning as the Red Flag Alert that had continued over the weekend is expected to subside today.

    However, low relative humidity and dry fuels will continue to make fire conditions worse for crews battling the blaze. The fire grew only about two percent overnight to 113,000 acres by Monday morning. The fire remained 25 percent contained.


    By Sunday afternoon the death toll from the blaze had risen to 29, only the 1933 Griffith Park Fire has been as deadly. Butte County officials said the number of dead could continue to rise as crews continue to search through the rubble for victims.

    There are also 228 people are still considered missing and unaccounted for, while authorities have been able to locate 107 who had been reported missing, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said.

    AFP_1AR9L9_1542032139769
    A hearse drives off with multiple bodies aboard after the Camp fire tore through the area in Concow, California on November 11, 2018. - The death toll from the devastating California wildfire has matched that of the deadliest to hit the state, with 29 people killed, a local sheriff said on November 11. (Photo by Josh Edelson / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images)
    JOSH EDELSON
    The fire has burned 6,453 homes and remains only 25 percent contained. Officials estimated another 260 commercial structures have burned in the fire. Another 389 "minor" structures were destroyed, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

    Honea said Sunday evening that the number of dead and burned structures could rise as crews continue to search for the missing and count the number of burned buildings.

    RELATED: Latest map and road closures in Butte County

    RELATED: Latest map and road closures in Southern California

    Another 15,500 structures were threatened by the flames, but fire officials said Oroville and Chico were not under immediate threat from the Camp Fire. There are 4,555 people working on the fire.

    The National Interagency Fire Center said the cost of the blaze has reached $16 million.

    Federal disaster aid may be on the way.

    “FEMA was in the area” Friday, Honea said. “I took FEMA representatives up into the affected area. They were awestruck by the devastation. I anticipate there will be a substantial involvement.”


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    As Californians, we are strong and resilient, and together we will recover. http://bit.ly/PresMajor #CampFire #WoolseyFire #HillFire

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    Gov. Brown on Sunday asked the Trump administration to declare a 'major disaster' declaration for California fires

    Brown made the request "to bolster the ongoing emergency response and help residents recover from devastating fires burning in Butte, Los Angeles and Ventura counties."

    Estimates of missing and killed are not certain. Numbers could rise as officials continue to assess the damage.



    In some cases, the fire burned so intensely it could “completely consume” bodies, Honea said. “We have not yet officially identified anybody or notified the next of kin.”

    The county has brought in an extra coroner’s team and DNA experts from the Department of Justice to aid in identification.

    “We’re still compiling” Honea said. “In some cases, there were duplicate names. In some cases, there wasn’t enough information.”

    Trump tweets at California, but fed land often burns

    Honea said he was unsure if there are children among the missing.

    The Sheriff's Office opened a missing persons call center Sunday afternoon. People can report missing friends and family at any of three numbers: 530-538-6570, 530-538-7544 and 530-538-7671.

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    https://ktla.com/2018/11/13/camp-fir...ornia-history/

    Update reports of 42 people killed in the Butte Fire.

    More than a dozen coroner search and recovery teams looked for human remains from a Northern California wildfire that killed at least 42 — making it the deadliest in state history — as anxious relatives visited shelters and called police hoping to find loved ones alive.

    Lisa Jordan drove 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from Yakima, Washington, to search for her uncle, Nick Clark, and his wife, Anne Clark, of Paradise, California. Anne Clark suffers from multiple sclerosis and is unable to walk. No one knows if they were able to evacuate, or even if their house still exists, she said.

    “I’m staying hopeful,” she said. “Until the final word comes, you keep fighting against it.”

    Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea updated the confirmed fatality number Monday night — a figure that is almost certain to spike following the blaze that last week destroyed Paradise, a town of 27,000 about 180 miles (290 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.

    Authorities were bringing in two mobile morgue units and requesting 150 search and rescue personnel. Officials were unsure of the exact number of missing.

    “I want to recover as many remains as we possibly can, as soon as we can. Because I know the toll it takes on loved ones,” Honea said.

    Chaplains accompanied some coroner search teams that visited dozens of addresses belonging to people reported missing. For those on the grim search, no cars in the driveway is good, one car a little more ominous and multiple burned-out vehicles equals a call for extra vigilance.

    State officials said the cause of the inferno was under investigation.

    Meanwhile, a landowner near where the blaze began, Betsy Ann Cowley, said she got an email from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. the day before the fire last week telling her that crews needed to come onto her property because the utility’s power lines were causing sparks. PG&E had no comment on the email.

    Stan Craig’s sister, Beverly Craig Powers, has not returned numerous texts and calls, and the adult children of her partner, Robert Duvall, have not heard from their father, he said. The couple was last seen evacuating their Paradise home on Thursday with two pickup trucks and a travel trailer, so they could be camping.

    He knows friends and family are still being reunited with missing loved ones, but he said his unease grows every day. Still, the Fresno, California, resident wasn’t planning on heading to the fire area. As a former firefighter himself, he said he understands the chaos wildfires cause.

    “I’m going to stay here until I have something more to go on,” he said.

    The blaze was part of an outbreak of wildfires on both ends of the state. Together, they were blamed for 44 deaths, including two in celebrity-studded Malibu in Southern California , where firefighters appeared to be gaining ground against a roughly 143-square-mile (370-square-kilometer) blaze that destroyed at least 370 structures, with hundreds more feared lost.

    All told, more than 8,000 firefighters statewide were battling wildfires that destroyed more than 7,000 structures and scorched more than 325 square miles (840 square kilometers), the flames feeding on dry brush and driven by blowtorch winds.

    There were tiny signs of some sense of order returning to Paradise and anonymous gestures meant to rally the spirits of firefighters who have worked in a burned-over wasteland for days.

    Large American flags stuck into the ground lined both sides of the road at the town limits, and temporary stop signs appeared overnight at major intersections. Downed power lines that had blocked roads were cut away, and crews took down burned trees with chain saws.

    The 42 dead in Northern California surpassed the deadliest single fire on record, a 1933 blaze in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. A series of wildfires in Northern California’s wine country last fall killed 44 people and destroyed more than 5,000 homes.

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    https://www.abc10.com/article/news/l.../103-614070846

    Update

    10 patients from the Camp Fire are currently under the care of UC Davis Medical Center.
    Author: By MARTHA MENDOZA and GILLIAN FLACCUS , Associated Press, Staff, ABC10
    Published: 5:20 AM PST November 13, 2018
    Updated: 3:52 PM PST November 13, 2018
    If you're viewing on the ABC10 App, tap here for multimedia.

    3:40 p.m. update:

    UC Davis Medical Center currently has 10 patients that are being treated from the Camp Fire.

    Of the 10 patients, 9 of them are at UC Davis and the other is being cared for by their team at Shriners Hospital.

    Eight of the patients at UC Davis are said to be in fair condition and the other is said to be in critical condition.




    The condition of the patient at Shriners is currently unavailable.

    RELATED:A glimpse of Paradise, before the fires

    RELATED: Fire maps and road closures in Northern California

    RELATED: California Wildfires: The New Normal - a 9 part special report

    2:35 p.m. update:

    Not every student will be able to meet the college admission application deadline due to the California wildfires, so the California State University system will be offering deadline extensions for the students that have been impacted.

    California State University [CSU] is offering admission application deadline extensions for students who were impacted by the wildfires in California. The original deadline is Nov. 30, 2018, however, those impacted students can request a deadline extension and prevent a current tragedy from impacting their immediate academic future.

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    https://kywnewsradio.radio.com/artic...ictims-56-dead

    Update 56 people are dead due to fires.

    PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — With at least 130 people still missing, National Guard troops searched Wednesday through charred debris for more victims of California's deadliest wildfire as top federal and state officials toured the ruins of a community completely destroyed by the flames.

    Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke joined Gov. Jerry Brown on a visit to the leveled town of Paradise, telling reporters it was the worst fire devastation he had ever seen.

    "Now is not the time to point fingers," Zinke said. "There are lots of reasons these catastrophic fires are happening." He cited warmer temperatures, dead trees and the poor forest management.

    Brown, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump's policies, said he spoke with Trump, who pledged federal assistance.

    "This is so devastating that I don't really have the words to describe it," Brown said, saying officials would need to learn how to better prevent fires from becoming so deadly .

    Nearly 8,800 homes were destroyed when flames hit Paradise, a former gold-mining camp popular with retirees, on Nov. 8, killing at least 56 people in California's deadliest wildfire, Sheriff Kory Honea announced Wednesday evening. There were also three fatalities from separate blazes in Southern California.

    RELATED: N. California fires death toll now at 48; many still missing

    Honea said the task of searching for bodies was so vast that his office brought in another 287 searchers Wednesday, including the National Guard troops, bringing the total number of searchers to 461 plus 22 cadaver dogs. He said a rapid-DNA assessment system was expected to be in place soon to speed up identifications of the dead, though officials have tentatively identified 47 of the 56.

    It will take years to rebuild the town of 27,000, if people decide that's what should be done, said Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains looks like a wasteland.

    "The infrastructure is basically a total rebuild at this point," Long said. "You're not going to be able to rebuild Paradise the way it was."

    Temporary schools and hospitals will be brought in, Long said. Officials are also looking to bring in mobile homes for thousands of people left homeless.

    Debris removal in Paradise and outlying communities will have to wait until the search for victims finishes, he said.

    That grim search continued Wednesday.

    On one street, ash and dust flew up as roughly 20 National Guard members wearing white jumpsuits, helmets and breathing masks lifted giant heaps of bent and burned metal, in what was left of a home. Pink and blue chalk drawings of a cat and a flower remained on the driveway, near a scorched toy truck.

    The soldiers targeted homes of the missing. If anything resembling human remains is found, a coroner takes over.

    After the soldiers finished at the site, a chaplain huddled with them in prayer.

    The number of missing is "fluctuating every day" as people are located or remains are found, said Steve Collins, a deputy with the Butte County Sheriff's Department.

    Authorities on Wednesday released the names of about 100 people who are still missing, including many in their 80s and 90s, and dozens more could still be unaccounted for. Sheriff's department spokeswoman Megan McMann said the list was incomplete because detectives were concerned they would be overwhelmed with calls from relatives if the entire list were released.

    "We can't release them all at once," McMann said. "So they are releasing the names in batches."

    Authorities have not updated the total number of missing since Sunday, when 228 people were unaccounted for.

    Sol Bechtold's 75-year-old mother was not on the list. Her house burned down along with the rest of her neighborhood in Magalia, a community just north of Paradise.

    "The list they published is missing a lot of names," said Bechtold, who's still searching shelters for his mother, a widow who lived alone and did not drive.

    A sheriff's deputy asked Bechtold on Wednesday for information that could identify her remains, like any history of broken bones. He told the officer she had a knee replacement. Bechtold predicted that the death toll would rise sharply.

    "I feel horrible for the sheriff. I feel horrible for the people of Paradise and Magalia," he said. "It's just a no-win situation unless a few hundred folks just show up out of nowhere."

    To speed up identification of remains, officials are using portable devices that can identify genetic material in a couple of hours, rather than days or weeks.

    Accounts of narrow escapes from the flames continued to emerge. More than a dozen people who were trapped by a wall of fire survived by plunging into a cold lake.

    The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that a family of four, their 90-year-old neighbor and their pets sought safety in the chilly Concow Reservoir after the roaring fire surrounded their homes.

    The family stood in shoulder-deep water as flames singed the vegetation on the shore behind them. Not far away, at least a dozen others rushed into the lake after the caravan of vehicles they were in was cut off by flames.

    Before the Paradise tragedy, the deadliest single fire on record in California was a 1933 blaze in Griffith Park in Los Angeles that killed 29.

    The cause of the fires remained under investigation, but they broke out around the time and place that two utilities reported equipment trouble.

    People who lost homes in the Northern California blaze sued Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on Tuesday, accusing the utility of negligence and blaming it for the fire. An email to PG&E was not returned.

    ? Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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    https://kywnewsradio.radio.com/artic...ictims-56-dead

    Update 56 people are dead due to fires.

    PARADISE, Calif. (AP) ? With at least 130 people still missing, National Guard troops searched Wednesday through charred debris for more victims of California's deadliest wildfire as top federal and state officials toured the ruins of a community completely destroyed by the flames.

    Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke joined Gov. Jerry Brown on a visit to the leveled town of Paradise, telling reporters it was the worst fire devastation he had ever seen.

    "Now is not the time to point fingers," Zinke said. "There are lots of reasons these catastrophic fires are happening." He cited warmer temperatures, dead trees and the poor forest management.

    Brown, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump's policies, said he spoke with Trump, who pledged federal assistance.

    "This is so devastating that I don't really have the words to describe it," Brown said, saying officials would need to learn how to better prevent fires from becoming so deadly .

    Nearly 8,800 homes were destroyed when flames hit Paradise, a former gold-mining camp popular with retirees, on Nov. 8, killing at least 56 people in California's deadliest wildfire, Sheriff Kory Honea announced Wednesday evening. There were also three fatalities from separate blazes in Southern California.

    RELATED: N. California fires death toll now at 48; many still missing

    Honea said the task of searching for bodies was so vast that his office brought in another 287 searchers Wednesday, including the National Guard troops, bringing the total number of searchers to 461 plus 22 cadaver dogs. He said a rapid-DNA assessment system was expected to be in place soon to speed up identifications of the dead, though officials have tentatively identified 47 of the 56.

    It will take years to rebuild the town of 27,000, if people decide that's what should be done, said Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains looks like a wasteland.

    "The infrastructure is basically a total rebuild at this point," Long said. "You're not going to be able to rebuild Paradise the way it was."

    Temporary schools and hospitals will be brought in, Long said. Officials are also looking to bring in mobile homes for thousands of people left homeless.

    Debris removal in Paradise and outlying communities will have to wait until the search for victims finishes, he said.

    That grim search continued Wednesday.

    On one street, ash and dust flew up as roughly 20 National Guard members wearing white jumpsuits, helmets and breathing masks lifted giant heaps of bent and burned metal, in what was left of a home. Pink and blue chalk drawings of a cat and a flower remained on the driveway, near a scorched toy truck.

    The soldiers targeted homes of the missing. If anything resembling human remains is found, a coroner takes over.

    After the soldiers finished at the site, a chaplain huddled with them in prayer.

    The number of missing is "fluctuating every day" as people are located or remains are found, said Steve Collins, a deputy with the Butte County Sheriff's Department.

    Authorities on Wednesday released the names of about 100 people who are still missing, including many in their 80s and 90s, and dozens more could still be unaccounted for. Sheriff's department spokeswoman Megan McMann said the list was incomplete because detectives were concerned they would be overwhelmed with calls from relatives if the entire list were released.

    "We can't release them all at once," McMann said. "So they are releasing the names in batches."

    Authorities have not updated the total number of missing since Sunday, when 228 people were unaccounted for.

    Sol Bechtold's 75-year-old mother was not on the list. Her house burned down along with the rest of her neighborhood in Magalia, a community just north of Paradise.

    "The list they published is missing a lot of names," said Bechtold, who's still searching shelters for his mother, a widow who lived alone and did not drive.

    A sheriff's deputy asked Bechtold on Wednesday for information that could identify her remains, like any history of broken bones. He told the officer she had a knee replacement. Bechtold predicted that the death toll would rise sharply.

    "I feel horrible for the sheriff. I feel horrible for the people of Paradise and Magalia," he said. "It's just a no-win situation unless a few hundred folks just show up out of nowhere."

    To speed up identification of remains, officials are using portable devices that can identify genetic material in a couple of hours, rather than days or weeks.

    Accounts of narrow escapes from the flames continued to emerge. More than a dozen people who were trapped by a wall of fire survived by plunging into a cold lake.

    The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that a family of four, their 90-year-old neighbor and their pets sought safety in the chilly Concow Reservoir after the roaring fire surrounded their homes.

    The family stood in shoulder-deep water as flames singed the vegetation on the shore behind them. Not far away, at least a dozen others rushed into the lake after the caravan of vehicles they were in was cut off by flames.

    Before the Paradise tragedy, the deadliest single fire on record in California was a 1933 blaze in Griffith Park in Los Angeles that killed 29.

    The cause of the fires remained under investigation, but they broke out around the time and place that two utilities reported equipment trouble.

    People who lost homes in the Northern California blaze sued Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on Tuesday, accusing the utility of negligence and blaming it for the fire. An email to PG&E was not returned.

    ? Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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