The death toll in California’s wildfires climbed to 71 on Friday as the number of missing people surpassed 1000, while authorities continued the search for survivors and victims.
However, Kory Honea, Butte sheriff, said the list of missing people was dynamic, and could contain the names of people who did not realise they had been reported missing.
“We are still receiving calls, we’re still reviewing emails,” he said.
President Donald Trump is expected to visit the area on Saturday to see for himself the grief and damage caused by California’s most deadly wildfires.
But he may face anger from locals for comments suggesting the fires could have been prevented or contained with better forest management.
In an interview recorded on Friday and scheduled for broadcast on Fox News Sunday, Mr Trump said he was surprised to see images of firefighters removing dried brush near a fire. “This should have been all raked out,” he said.
Meanwhile, deputies found eight more bodies on Friday, bringing the death toll to 71.
Authorities are trying to reassure an anxious public that the long list of missing names – jumping from 600 a day earlier – may simply reflect the difficulty in trying to account for everyone thought to be in the area.
Some on the list have been confirmed as dead by family and friends on social media. Others have been located and are safe, but authorities have not yet marked them as found.
The wildfire this time all but razed the town of Paradise, population 27,000, and heavily damaged the outlying communities of Magalia and Concow on November 8, destroying 9,700 houses and 144 apartment buildings, authorities said.
Firefighters were gaining ground against the blaze, which blackened 222 square miles (575 square kilometers). It was 45 percent contained and posed no immediate threat to populated areas. Crews managed to stop it from spreading toward Oroville, population 19,000.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
