Worry over rain in search efforts

WILDFIRE: NEARLY 1 000 MISSING, 13 600 HOMES RAZED The fire was 66 percent contained by early yesterday.

Paradise

Emergency services stepped up their efforts yesterday to find remains of victims of California’s deadliest ever wildfire as nearly 1 000 people remained unaccounted for – but rain expected this week could make that search harder and raise the risk of dangerous mudslides.

The remains of 77 people have been recovered, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office said late on Sunday, as it cut the number of missing to 993 from 1 276.

The number of missing has fluctuated dramatically over the last week as reports have come in from rescue teams in the field.

The sheriff’s office said that the number will continue to move up and down as remains are found, more missing reports come in and people who have been reported missing turn up safe.

Some people appear to have been added to the list more than once under variant spellings of their names, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Camp Fire broke out in northern California on November 8 and quickly all but obliterated Paradise, a mountain town of nearly 27 000 people around 150km north of the state’s capital, Sacramento.

It has burned about 61 107 hectares and was 66 percent contained early yesterday, up from 65 percent late on Sunday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

Up to 10cm of rain is expected to fall north of San Francisco between late today and Friday, said Patrick Burke, a forecaster at the Weather Prediction Center.

Heavy rain could aid with containing the fire this week, but may also make it harder for teams sifting through ash and dirt looking for bodies.

Colleen Fitzpatrick, founder of the California-based consulting company Identifinders International, said the expected rain will turn the site into a “muddy, mushy mess”, slick with wet ash.

“It’s going to coat things and stick to things and it’s going to make it a lot harder to find remains,” she said. “There’s really nothing that can be done about this.”

Pathologists from the University of Nevada, Reno, worked through the weekend as firefighters peeled back debris, collecting bits of burned bones and photographing everything that might help identify the victims.

The rain also could increase the risk of mudslides.

Heath Hockenberry, the National Weather Service’s fire programme leader, said in “high-intensity” fires trees release gas that can form pockets and creates a “very volatile, waxy layer under the soil.”

Meanwhile, the vegetation above ground has been burnt and the root system weakened.

Overall, this creates a top layer of soil that is “hydrophobic,” or extremely resistant to water, Hockenberry said. “Throw a lot of water on that soil then gravity just takes over,” he said.

In a mudslide, the top layer of soil gives way, carrying boulders with it downhill at up to 56km/h), he said.