California wildfires - live: Firefighters tackle new Woolsey blaze as deadly Camp Fire spreads

Around 230 still missing in Camp Fire in what was already most destructive on state's record in terms of property damage

California wildfires: Paradise resident films escape from blaze

At least 42 people have died in a fierce wildfire which largely incinerated the town of Paradise in northern California, the largest loss of life from such a blaze in state history.

The latest death toll, was announced by Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea at an evening news conference in the city of Chico after authorities found the bodies of 13 more victims of the devastating blaze dubbed the Camp Fire.

The fire already ranked as the most destructive on record in California in terms of property loss, having consumed more than 7,100 homes and other structures since it ignited on Thursday.

Southern California's huge Woolsey wildfire - which has killed at least two people - roared to life again Tuesday in a mountain wilderness area even as many neighbourhoods were reopened to thousands of residents who fled its advance last week.

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Key Points

• Search teams recover remains of 42 people
• Hundreds still missing as conditions could get worse
• Satellite images reveal devastating scale of California wildfires
• Donald Trump criticised for response to blaze
• Celebrities lose homes to fires
• Four ways you can help the victims

[13 November 2018 10:44 · Samuel Osborne]

Nearly 9,000 firefighters, many from out of state, were battling to suppress the Camp Fire, the Woolsey Fire and a handful of smaller Southern California blazes, backed by squadrons of water-dropping helicopters and airplane tankers.

Some evacuees in Malibu, a seaside community whose residents include a number of Hollywood celebrities, were allowed to return home but were left without power or phone service.

[13 November 2018 10:59 · Samuel Osborne]

[13 November 2018 11:15 · Samuel Osborne]

Footage emerged a few days ago of a man being arrested for looting in California.

[13 November 2018 11:27 · Samuel Osborne]

[13 November 2018 11:43 · Samuel Osborne]

The 42 dead in Northern California surpassed the state's deadliest single fire on record, a 1933 blaze in Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

A series of wildfires in Northern California's wine country last Autumn killed 44 people and destroyed more than 5,000 homes. 

[13 November 2018 12:00 · Samuel Osborne]

[13 November 2018 12:19 · Samuel Osborne]

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fires.

PG&E Corp, which operates in northern California, and Edison International, the owner of Southern California Edison Company, have reported to regulators that they experienced problems with transmission lines or substations in areas where fires were reported, just before or close to the time they started.

[13 November 2018 13:01 · Samuel Osborne]

[13 November 2018 13:22 · Samuel Osborne]

[13 November 2018 14:06 · Chris Stevenson]

The search teams fanned out across the California town of Paradise have a two-step process as they canvas neighbourhoods.

First, a grim assessment: No cars in the driveway is good, one car is more ominous and multiple burned-out vehicles equals a call for extra vigilance.  

When a body is found, a call goes out, yellow police tape goes up — and the blue body bag arrives and carried away in a black hearse.