At least 200 missing in US fires
MALIBU: Authorities searched yesterday for more than 200 people unaccounted for in one of the wildfires rampaging through parts of California, voicing concern about a possible rising death toll, with gusty, dry winds expected to fan the flames.
The socalled Camp Fire, California’s most destructive on record, had left at least 228 people missing according to Kory Honea, sheriff of northern California’s Butte County, site of the fire. That fire and one in southern California have killed at least 31 people.
Both were whipped up by hot, dry winds.
More than 224,000 people had been displaced by the fires, officials said.
The Camp Fire, 60km north of Sacramento, destroyed more than 6700 homes and businesses in the town of Paradise, more structures than any other wildfire recorded in California. The blaze is estimated to have caused between $US2 billion ($NZ2.97 billion) and $US4 billion in insured property damage, Morgan Stanley said.
The fire had scorched more than 45,700ha and was 25% contained, officials said yesterday. Its death toll of 29 equals that of the Griffith Park Fire in 1933, the deadliest wildfire on record in California.
Speaking on CNN, Honea said he feared the death toll would rise.
In southern California, the Woolsey Fire had burned more than 36,800ha and was only 20% contained, officials said. Authorities had issued evacuation orders to about 250,000 people in Ventura and Los Angeles coun ties and beachside communities including Malibu.
At least two people had died in the Woolsey Fire, according to officials from the statewide agency Cal Fire, which has more than 3200 personnel fighting the blaze.
Many of those allowed to return were left without power or cellphone service, even if their homes were spared by the flames.
A smaller blaze in Southern California, the Hill Fire, was 75% contained and had burned 1830ha, officials said.
Local residents were despondent over the fire damage.
‘‘It’s not the house, because you can rebuild. But it’s what is inside the house. It’s all gone,’’ Malibu resident Marcella Shirk (82) told KABCTV.
‘‘And that’s what hurts, those kinds of things hurt, because you can’t replace that.’’
She and her husband lost their house of 41 years and its possessions. The house burned on his 92nd birthday.
Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, has asked United States President Donald Trump to declare a major disaster to bolster the emergency response and help residents recover.
Trump, a Republican who has often criticised Democratled California on a variety of issues, faulted the state government in Twitter comments during the weekend, blaming poor forest management by the state for the infernos.
Brian Rice, president of the California Professional Firefighters, called Trump’s statement ‘‘illtimed’’ given the loss of life and ongoing search for missing people.— Reuters