Wildfires
matches the 1933 Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles as the deadliest wildfire in state history.
Samuhel said firefighters could get a modest break from the winds Tuesday but added that the humidity will remain low.
“Relief might be an overstatement, but at least the wind won’t be as bad,” he said.
Cal Fire, the statewide fire protection agency, said Monday that the Camp Fire had grown to 176 square miles and was 25 percent contained. Search teams were hunting through the fire-swept city of Paradise, population 27,000, looking for more victims. A mobile DNA lab was set up to help identify victims.
“This is truly a tragedy that all Californians can understand and respond to,” Gov. Jerry Brown said at a news briefing. “It’s a time to pull together and work through these tragedies.”
While the cause of the fire was being investigated, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. came under scrutiny after telling state regulators that it had been having a problem with an electrical transmission line in the area before the fire broke out. Cal Fire investigators were at the scene of the transmission line Monday. PG&E had no comment.
In Southern California, the estimate of homes destroyed by the Woolsey Fire west of Los Angeles rose sharply. At least two people have died and at least 370 residences, businesses and other structures have been destroyed by a blaze that threatens more than 50,000 homes, Cal Fire said.
“Due to extreme fire behavior, firefighting efforts have been focused, and will remain focused, on the protection of life and structures,” Cal Fire said.
The Woolsey Fire had burned 143 square miles and was 20 percent contained Monday, according to Cal Fire. But there were some positive signs. Some of the evacuation zones were being reopened, and thousands of residents were headed home.
Roger Kelly, 69, was thrilled to see that his lakeside mobile home in the Santa Monica Mountains north of Malibu had survived. But some homes nearby were destroyed.
“I just start weeping,” he said. “Your first view of it, man, it just gets you.” Griffith Park Fire, 1933 Tunnel Fire, 1991 Tubbs Fire, 2017 Cedar Fire, 2003 Rattlesnake Fire, 1953 Loop Fire, 1966 Hauser Creek Fire, 1943 Inaja Fire, 1956 Iron Alps Complex Fire, 2008
Comic Kevin Hart thanked firefighters on Instagram.
“You men & women are true heroes & me and my family thank you,” Hart posted. “My heart & prayers go out to all families in the affected areas . ... God have mercy on us all.”