Recovery efforts: Officials end search for human remains in the rubble of the Camp Fire.
Butte County officials ended their recovery efforts for human remains on Thursday, three weeks after the vicious Camp Fire tore through Paradise and surrounding communities.
But heavy rains this week brought new problems to the area: Flooding prompted evacuation orders and warnings on Thursday.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said Wednesday that thousands of officials searched all locations where they believed human remains would be found and had a “high degree of confidence” that officials did their “due diligence” in the search for victims.
At its height, more than 500 people were scouring the ruins of thousands of buildings. Remains of 88 people were recovered, officials said.
Although active searches for remains have halted, Honea has said that it’s possible crews may have missed remains that would have been difficult to detect.
Residents returning to their properties as evacuation orders begin to lift — as early as next week — may discover bones or bone fragments, he said.
Honea advised residents to call the sheriff ’s office if they find remains so that officials can collect and analyze the material. He recently clarified an earlier statement in which he said remains may have been completely incinerated by the blaze, confirming that bone fragments would still remain, according to the Associated Press.
Some zones in Paradise may be open early next week, pending any weather setbacks.
On Thursday, heavy rains flooded roads near the Camp Fire burn zone, prompting evacuation warnings and orders by Butte County officials.
The Butte County Sheriff ’s Office called for the evacuations shortly before 1:30 p.m., from the 200 block of Honey Run Road to Skyway in Chico, near the Butte Creek Canyon. Highway 99 at Neal Road was also closed because of flooding.
Evacuation warnings were extended around 3 p.m. to include the Hamlin Canyon and Lower Neal zones due to flooding, sheriff ’s officials announced on Twitter.
Officials also issued evacuation warnings for the areas of Hagen Lane at the north, south to Highway 162 and the Sacramento River east to Highway 99.
Rick Carhart, a spokesman for the Butte County Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Cal Fire water rescue teams had saved people from cars stranded on flooded roads.
“Some of the affected areas are definitely in the fire area, but this is more widespread than that,” Carhart said. “There are a number of roads closed in areas that weren’t affected by the burn just because of the amount of rain we’ve had.”
The National Weather Service in Sacramento issued a flash flood warning Thursday at noon until 9:15 p.m. for areas affected by the Camp Fire.
Heavy rainfall at recently burned areas are especially prone to debris flow, Carhart said.
“When you get a fire and then soon after it, before anything has a chance to regrow, you get heavy rainfall, it is more susceptible to flooding, because there’s not ground cover to keep the hillside intact,” he said.