Grim search for 1,276 missing after deadliest California wildfire
PARADISE, Ca l i forni a : Authorities sifted through the charred wreckage of California’s deadliest ever wildfire on Sunday, searching for any signs of the 1,276 people now listed as missing after the Camp Fire tore through the mountain town of Paradise.
The remains of 77 people have been recovered so far, 67 of whom have been tentatively identified pending DNA conf irmation. Early on Sunday the blaze, which ignited on Nov. 8, was 60 per cent contained, officials said, up from 55 per cent Saturday.
Rain is forecast for the area this week, potentially helping douse the blazes but raising the risk of floods and mudslides, adding to the misery of 46,000 people under evacuation orders.
On Saturday, two forensic anthropologists for the University of Nevada, Reno, were helping firefighters sort through the wreckage at a mobile home park for senior citizens in Paradise.
Firefighters peeled back the metal sheet of a collapsed roof as the anthropologists picked up visibly charred bone fragments, sorting them into paper bags.
Roger Fielding, chief deputy coroner with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, said that each site was treated as a crime scene, with every step of recovery documented with photographs.
“Our job is to pick up any items that might reflect who this person might be,” he said.
Besides the toll on human life, property losses from the blaze make it the most destructive in California history, posing the additional challenge of providing long- term shelter for many thousands of displaced residents. — Reuters