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
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Your support makes all the difference.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.
To see how the day unfolded follow our live blog below
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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:
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.
The World Economic Forum has noted California's wildfires have increased in size and scope over the last two decades:
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.”
Below is a video update from the Camp Fire in California, a majority of which remains un-contained as of Wednesday afternoon:
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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