California wildfires toll hits 50 as remains found
Thousands of firefighters battled blazes in northern and southern California on Tuesday as recovery teams searched the remains of houses and cars for victims of the deadliest wildfire in the history of the state.
At least 50 deaths have been reported statewide from the fires, and the toll is likely to rise with hundreds of people missing.
Most of the fatalities have been caused by the so-called “Camp Fire” in and around the town of Paradise, with a population of 26,000 in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, about 130 kilometres north of the capital Sacramento.
“Today an additional six human remains were recovered, which brings the total to 48. All six of those remains were in Paradise in the remains of homes,” Sheriff Kory Honea said.
Another two deaths were reported from the “Woolsey Fire” north of Los Angeles.
Paradise, which is home to many retired people and has had an unusually dry autumn, was razed by the “Camp Fire”.
Residents told harrowing tales of fleeing the fires by driving through tunnels of smoke and fire as flames licked at their vehicles.
Melissa Schuster, a member of Paradise town council, told ABC News that the entire town “is a toxic wasteland right now”.
The “Woolsey Fire”, which also began on Thursday, has burnt 39,300 hectares but firefighter say it has now been 40 per cent contained.