It’s a WAR zone
42 DEAD IN BLAZE..AND COUNTING
THE death toll in the wildfires tearing through California has risen to 42 amid fears the figure could be in the hundreds.
Flames have razed 7,100 homes and more than 200 people are recorded as officially missing.
In the town of Paradise in northern California the blaze reduced most of the buildings to ash within hours when the fires broke out last Thursday night.
Sheriff Cory Hornea, in charge of the rescue, revealed details of the clean-up.
He told reporters that in some cases crews have only been able to recover “bones or bone fragments”. Fires have also ravaged neighbourhoods in southern California with dozens of mansions in Malibu levelled by the flames.
Actor Gerard Butler’s Malibu home was consumed in the blaze and in a message he said: “I was one of the lucky ones.”
He described the aftermath as “like a war zone”.
Posting a video to Instagram of the wasteland that was once his home he said: “My heart aches for all those who lost their homes and their lives in California.
“I was one of the lucky ones, my home was only partially destroyed. A lot of people lost everything and will have to rebuild from scratch.
“Inspired as ever by the courage, spirit and sacrifice of firefighters.”
Lady Gaga volunteered at a Red Cross shelter in Pacific Palisades for people driven from their homes.
Relief
The singer has been forced from her home in Malibu.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump made a major disaster declaration for California which will funnel relief funds to the state. His decision came days after he was slammed for blaming the raging fires on public servants.
He tweeted last weekend: “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor.
“Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests.
“Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”
Rock star Neil Young, who lost his home in the inferno, raged: “It really is time for a reckoning with an unfit leader.”ruth.mckee@dailystar.co.uk