California wildfires: Death toll climbs to 51 as strong winds bring new blazes near Los Angeles

Blaze incinerates more than 8,800 homes and other buildings

California wildfires: Cars come within metres of blaze on Los Angeles freeway

The remains of six more victims of California’s most lethal and destructive wildfire in history have been found, bringing the death toll to 48 in the so-called Camp Fire in northern California and 51 total, statewide.

Forensic teams with cadaver dogs spent the day combing through ash and charred debris in what was let of the town of Paradise, around 175 miles (280km) north of San Francisco, near the state capital of Sacramento. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said 100 National Guard troops were being sent in at his request to assist in the search for additional human remains left by the Camp Fire.

The names of 80 people, many of them elderly, have been released in an effort to locate them amid the blaze damage.

The intensified effort to locate victims comes on the sixth day of a blaze that has incinerated more than 8,800 homes and other buildings, including most of Paradise, a town once home to 27,000 people that was largely erased hours after the fire began last Thursday. More than 50,000 local residents remained under evacuation orders.

In southern California, the Woolsey Fire has killed three people, destroyed more than 400 structures and displaced some 200,000 people in the mountains and foothills near the Malibu coast west of Los Angeles.

Darkened skies could be seen for days as the fire raged on, with winds picking up the smoke and sending it as far as Wisconsin nearly 2,000 miles away.

The Woolsey Fire has displaced several celebrities as well including Gerard Butler, Neil Young, and Lady Gaga, who was seen delivering pizzas, coffee, and gift cards to a nearby evacuation centre in Los Angeles.

That fire has consumed more than 97,000 acres through Los Angeles and Ventura counties and leaving 57,000 residents still in danger as firefighting authorities said only half of the blaze has been contained.

Donald Trump was briefed on the situation by Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) director Brock Long. Mr Trump said he had a phone call with California governor Jerry Brown “to let him know that we are with him, and the people of California, all the way!”

The president had tweeted over the weekend the fires were due to "poor" "forest management" in the state but did not elaborate on what that actually meant. He also threatened to stop federal government payments to California, presumably funds earmarked for forest management.

However, the current spate of wildfires is not in forests.

The Camp and Woolsey fires actually began in what the New York Times called the "wildland-urban interface: places where communities are close to undeveloped areas, making it easier for fire to move from forests or grasslands into neighbourhoods."

According to a 2015 report by the US Department of Agriculture, there were 44 million homes in those areas. That number is certainly higher in 2018 as urban areas expand in California.

Regarding his threat to withdraw federal funds for forest management in California - approximately 60 per cent of the forest land in the state is actually federally held and managed.

Of the 33 million acres, 40 per cent are owned and managed by individuals, Native American tribes, and timber companies. Only 3 per cent is owned by the state.

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After devastating fires last year, California had allocated more than $250 million to lower the risk of more wildfires but drought, possibly due to climate change, has exacerbated conditions. 

Meanwhile, several homeowners filed a lawsuit against utility company Pacific Gas & Electric for causing the fire.

The suit alleged the company did not properly inspect its high voltage power lines, a spark from which is thought to have ignited dry brush and grassland nearby.

The company has lost approximately 45 per cent of its stock value as the fires continue to rage.

To see how the day unfolded follow our live blog below

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[14 November 2018 17:48 · Chris Riotta]

Here's video of Lady Gaga speaking at a local California shelter after bringing food and other resources to those who have been displaced by the state's deadliest and most destructive fire in history: 

[14 November 2018 17:58 · Chris Riotta]

Here's the latest out of Paradise, California, via the AP:

The flames all but obliterated the Northern California town of Paradise, population 27,000, and ravaged surrounding areas last Thursday. About 7,700 homes were destroyed.

The exact number of missing was unclear, but many friends and relatives of those living in the fire zone said they hadn’t heard from loved ones. Some went to shelters looking for the missing.

Efforts were underway to bring in mobile morgues, cadaver dogs, a rapid DNA analysis system for identifying victims, and an additional 150 search-and-rescue personnel on top of 13 teams already looking for remains — a grim indication that the death toll would almost surely rise.

[14 November 2018 18:08 · Chris Riotta]

The World Economic Forum has noted California's wildfires have increased in size and scope over the last two decades: 

[14 November 2018 18:28 · Chris Riotta]

In the wake of a mass shooting and massive wildfire, one evacuee explained to ABC News how the community has managed to come together: “We got a really good group here in Thousand Oaks and we're standing strong and positive.”

[14 November 2018 18:38 · Chris Riotta]

Below is a video update from the Camp Fire in California, a majority of which remains un-contained as of Wednesday afternoon: 

[14 November 2018 18:49 · Chris Stevenson]

Authorities say six people have been arrested on suspicion of looting homes evacuated when a deadly fire swept through a Northern California town and several surrounding communities. 

The Butte County Sheriff's Office says deputies on Monday found two men hiding inside home in the town of Paradise with a .45 calibre handgun and drugs. Deputies also found an ATV, an AR-15 rifle and tools the men are suspected of stealing. 

The office says deputies arrested two other men Tuesday with a laptop computer that didn't belong to them. 

A few hours later Tuesday, two more people were arrested after they were spotted in a motorhome reported stolen in the neighbouring town of Magalia. 

[14 November 2018 18:58 · Chris Stevenson]

Stewart Morrow, an official of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), was assessing damage to homes in Paradise, comparing piles of charred rubble where houses once stood with online photos of the structures before the fire. He also was keeping an eye out for human remains.

“I've been a firefighter for 20 years and I've never seen a place so destroyed,” Mr Morrow told Reuters. “It's unreal.”

[14 November 2018 19:08 · Chris Stevenson]

Authorities are investigating a report of a body found within the burn zone of the Woolsey wildfire in Southern California.

Two deaths were previously linked to the weeklong blaze in Ventura and Los Angeles counties that was 47 per cent contained after scorching more than 152 square miles, engulfing homes, scenic canyon getaways and celebrity estates. 

The body under investigation was found in a burned residence in the Agoura Hills area. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department called it an apparent fire-related death but did not immediately have any further information. 

[14 November 2018 19:19 · Chris Stevenson]

Authorities searching through the blackened aftermath of California's deadliest wildfire have released the names of about 80 people who are still missing, including many in their 80s and 90s.

[14 November 2018 19:29 · Chris Stevenson]

Some residents have been rescuing wildfire also stranded by the Camp Fire in northern California.