California fires threaten ‘our whole way of life’ warns governor
Politician blames global warming for joint worst wildfires in state’s history as death toll rises to 31
CALIFORNIA’S governor yesterday warned “our whole way of life” was under threat as the wildfire crisis became one of the deadliest in the state’s history.
As the fires continued to rage at both ends of the Golden State the death toll around the incinerated northern town of Paradise rose to 29, equalling that of the Griffith Park Fire in 1933, the deadliest wildfire on record in California.
Two other deaths have been attributed to the separate fire near Malibu in the south of the state.
Thousands of firefighters were still searching for bodies among the smouldering ruins, and more than 200 people remained unaccounted for.
Survivors spoke of fleeing the “apocalyptic” fires as the soles of their shoes melted, while celebrities found their multi-million dollar homes in ashes.
The home of Gerard Butler, the British actor, was among hundreds obliterated in Malibu.
He posted a photograph of the remains on the internet, writing: “Returned to my house in Malibu after evacuating. Heartbreaking time across California. Inspired as ever by the courage, spirit and sacrifice of firefighters.”
Miley Cyrus, the singer, also lost her mansion. She said: “My house no longer stands but the memories shared with family and friends stand strong. I am grateful for all I have left.” Lady Gaga, the pop star whose home was pictured surrounded by smoke, visited other evacuees at a Red Cross shelter in a high school near Malibu. She sang to a 98-year-old woman who had been evacuated, and told the crowd: “This is an emergency, but you are not alone. I’m sitting here with many of you, wondering if my home will burst into flames. All we can do is pray together.”
Other celebrities known to have lost their homes in Malibu, just outside Los Angeles, included the musicians Neil Young and Robin Thicke.
Paradise, formerly a town of 27,000 people 180 miles north-east of San Francisco, looked like it had been carpet bombed.
Tim Aboudara, a firefighters union representative, said: “Paradise was literally wiped off the map.”
Nichole Jolly, 34, a local nurse, described how she was nearly killed driving away from a burning radiology building at the hospital.
Her truck was rammed into a ditch by another desperately fleeing vehicle, so she got out and approached another car but the door handles were melting, and her trousers caught on fire.
She said: “I’m breathing in the hottest air I’ve ever been in.
“My throat is bloodied, I’m about to hit the ground but the bottom of my shoes were melting. I put my hand out in front of me and prayed to God, ‘Please, don’t let me die like this’.”
The nurse was rescued by firefighters heading towards the blaze.
Paradise was a popular retirement area and the large number of elderly residents made the evacuation more difficult, as did gridlock on the main road out of the isolated town.
Susan Miller, 59, who fled the inferno in Paradise in a car with melting tyres, said: “I’ll have nightmares for the rest of my life.” Her daughter Amber Toney, who was also in the car, said: “How can God take a town away that’s called Paradise?”
Sol Bechtold, another survivor from the area, drove around shelters looking for his mother, Joanne Caddy, 75, a widow whose house burned down.
He said: “I’m under a dark emotional cloud. Your mother’s somewhere and you don’t know where she’s at.”
Meanwhile, Kory Honea, the sheriff of Butte County in northern California, scene of the Paradise fire, said: “Given what we’ve dealt with so far with casualties as a result of this fire I have concerns that the death toll will rise.”
The fire that destroyed Paradise had alone caused between $2 billion and $4 billion (£1.6 billion and £3.1 billion) in property damage, Morgan Stanley estimated.
Around 8,000 firefighters are battling wildfires that have burnt more than 400 sq miles around the state,
‘I put my hand out and prayed to God, ‘Please, don’t let me die like this’’
feeding on dry brush and driven by winds that have had a blowtorch effect.
President Donald Trump urged those in their path to flee, and praised firefighters as “amazing and very brave,” but blamed what he called poor forestry management for the blazes.
Jerry Brown, the California governor, said climate change and a five-year drought, were partly responsible.
He said: “Unfortunately, the best science is telling us that dryness, warmth, drought, all those things, they’re going to intensify. We have a real challenge here threatening our whole way of life.”