PARADISE, CALIF.—As wildfires raged at both ends of the state, officials released another grim statistic: six more bodies discovered in the burned-over town of Paradise and outlying areas, bringing the death toll there to 29 and matching the record for the deadliest single blaze in California history.
Statewide the death toll stood at 31, including two dead in Southern California, with authorities still searching for bodies and 228 people unaccounted for.
Statewide the death toll stood at 31, including two dead in Southern California, with authorities still searching for bodies and 228 people unaccounted for.
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Northern California
Ten search teams were working in Paradise — a town of 27,000 that was largely incinerated Thursday — and in surrounding communities in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada foothills. Authorities called in a DNA lab and anthropologists to help identify what in some cases were only bones or bone fragments.
All told, more 8,000 firefighters battled wildfires that scorched at least 1,040 square kilometres of the state, with the flames feeding on dry brush and driven by winds that had a blowtorch effect.
Ten search teams were working in Paradise — a town of 27,000 that was largely incinerated Thursday — and in surrounding communities in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada foothills. Authorities called in a DNA lab and anthropologists to help identify what in some cases were only bones or bone fragments.
All told, more 8,000 firefighters battled wildfires that scorched at least 1,040 square kilometres of the state, with the flames feeding on dry brush and driven by winds that had a blowtorch effect.
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“This is truly a tragedy that all Californians can understand and respond to,” Gov. Jerry Brown said Sunday. “It’s a time to pull together and work through these tragedies.”
California is requesting emergency aid from the Trump administration. U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed what he called poor forest management for the fires.
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The governor said that the federal and state governments must do more forest management but that climate change is the greater source of the problem.
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“And those who deny that are definitely contributing to the tragedies that we’re now witnessing and will continue to witness in the coming years,” Brown said.
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Drought and warmer weather attributed to climate change, and the building of homes deeper into forests have led to longer and more destructive wildfire seasons in California. While California officially emerged from a five-year drought last year, much of the northern two-thirds of the state is abnormally dry.
In Northern California, where more than 6,700 buildings have been destroyed in the blaze that obliterated Paradise, firefighters contended with wind gusts up to 64 km/h overnight, the fire jumping 300 feet across Lake Oroville.
The state fire agency said Monday that the fire had grown to 303 square kilometres and was 25 per cent contained.
The magnitude of the devastation was beginning to set in even as the blaze raged on. Public safety officials toured the Paradise area to begin discussing the recovery. Much of what makes the city function was gone.
“Paradise was literally wiped off the map,” said Tim Aboudara, a firefighters union representative. He said at least 36 firefighters lost their own homes, most in the Paradise area.
Others continued the desperate search for friends or relatives, calling evacuation centres, hospitals, police and the coroner’s office.
In Northern California, where more than 6,700 buildings have been destroyed in the blaze that obliterated Paradise, firefighters contended with wind gusts up to 64 km/h overnight, the fire jumping 300 feet across Lake Oroville.
The state fire agency said Monday that the fire had grown to 303 square kilometres and was 25 per cent contained.
The magnitude of the devastation was beginning to set in even as the blaze raged on. Public safety officials toured the Paradise area to begin discussing the recovery. Much of what makes the city function was gone.
“Paradise was literally wiped off the map,” said Tim Aboudara, a firefighters union representative. He said at least 36 firefighters lost their own homes, most in the Paradise area.
Others continued the desperate search for friends or relatives, calling evacuation centres, hospitals, police and the coroner’s office.
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Sol Bechtold drove from shelter to shelter looking for his mother, Joanne Caddy, a 75-year-old widow whose house burned down along with the rest of her neighbourhood in Magalia, just north of Paradise. She lived alone and did not drive.
As he drove through the smoke and haze to yet another shelter, he said, “I’m also under a dark emotional cloud. Your mother’s somewhere and you don’t know where she’s at. You don’t know if she’s safe.”
The 29 dead in Northern California matched the 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 fall killed 44 people and destroyed more than 5,000 homes.
Southern California
In Southern California, firefighters beat back a new round of winds Sunday and the fire’s growth was believed to have been largely stopped, though extremely low humidity and gusty Santa Ana winds were in the forecast through at least Tuesday.
Some of the thousands of people who fled Southern California’s huge wildfire were being allowed to return home, and traffic was flowing Monday on the major highway through the area after a closure of several days.
Malibu celebrities and mobile-home dwellers in nearby mountains were slowly learning whether their homes had been spared or reduced to ash. Two people were killed in Malibu, and the fire destroyed at least 180 or so structures.
As he drove through the smoke and haze to yet another shelter, he said, “I’m also under a dark emotional cloud. Your mother’s somewhere and you don’t know where she’s at. You don’t know if she’s safe.”
The 29 dead in Northern California matched the 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 fall killed 44 people and destroyed more than 5,000 homes.
Southern California
In Southern California, firefighters beat back a new round of winds Sunday and the fire’s growth was believed to have been largely stopped, though extremely low humidity and gusty Santa Ana winds were in the forecast through at least Tuesday.
Some of the thousands of people who fled Southern California’s huge wildfire were being allowed to return home, and traffic was flowing Monday on the major highway through the area after a closure of several days.
Malibu celebrities and mobile-home dwellers in nearby mountains were slowly learning whether their homes had been spared or reduced to ash. Two people were killed in Malibu, and the fire destroyed at least 180 or so structures.
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Repopulation of some neighbourhoods and the reopening of U.S. 101 west of Los Angeles began late Sunday, marking positive developments even though forecasts called for continuing critical fire weather conditions.
Mandatory evacuations remained in effect in many other areas, however, including the entire cities of Malibu and Calabasas.
As of Sunday night, the fire had grown to more than 344 square kilometres and was 15 per cent contained, authorities said.
The so-called Woolsey fire grew only slightly on Sunday to just over 344 square kilometres and by firefighters by nightfall had increased their containment of the blaze to 15 per cent.
Authorities planned to release new damage assessments late Monday morning, saying they expected the number of destroyed buildings would be more than the 177 previously reported. The death toll stood at two.
Relief and heartache awaited those starting to return home.
Eager to know the status of his house, 69-year-old Roger Kelly defied evacuation orders Sunday and hiked back into Seminole Springs, his lakeside mobile home community in the Santa Monica Mountains north of Malibu.
His got the thrill of finding his house intact. But some a half-block away were laid to waste, as were dozens more, and virtually everything on the landscape around the community had been turned to ash.
“I just started weeping,” Kelly said. “I just broke down. Your first view of it, man it just gets you.”
The community where Kelly and his wife have lived for 28 years and raised two children was among the hardest hit.
Mandatory evacuations remained in effect in many other areas, however, including the entire cities of Malibu and Calabasas.
As of Sunday night, the fire had grown to more than 344 square kilometres and was 15 per cent contained, authorities said.
The so-called Woolsey fire grew only slightly on Sunday to just over 344 square kilometres and by firefighters by nightfall had increased their containment of the blaze to 15 per cent.
Authorities planned to release new damage assessments late Monday morning, saying they expected the number of destroyed buildings would be more than the 177 previously reported. The death toll stood at two.
Relief and heartache awaited those starting to return home.
Eager to know the status of his house, 69-year-old Roger Kelly defied evacuation orders Sunday and hiked back into Seminole Springs, his lakeside mobile home community in the Santa Monica Mountains north of Malibu.
His got the thrill of finding his house intact. But some a half-block away were laid to waste, as were dozens more, and virtually everything on the landscape around the community had been turned to ash.
“I just started weeping,” Kelly said. “I just broke down. Your first view of it, man it just gets you.”
The community where Kelly and his wife have lived for 28 years and raised two children was among the hardest hit.
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The fire erupted Thursday amid strong Santa Ana winds and spread through communities in western Los Angeles County and southeastern Ventura County.
Santa Ana winds, produced by surface high pressure over the Great Basin squeezing air down through canyons and passes in Southern California’s mountain ranges, are common in autumn and have a long history of fanning destructive wildfires in the region.
A lull Saturday gave firefighters a chance to gain ground but the winds returned Sunday, stoking the fire again.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby stressed there were numerous hot spots and plenty of fuel that had not yet burned, but at sunset he said there had been huge successes despite “a very challenging day.”
The fire’s cause remained under investigation but Southern California Edison reported to the California Public Utilities Commission that there was an outage on an electrical circuit near where it started as Santa Ana winds blew through the region.
SoCal Edison said the report was submitted out of an abundance of caution although there was no indication from fire officials that its equipment may have been involved. The report said the fire was reported around 2:24 p.m. Thursday, two minutes after the outage.
Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen hadn’t heard about the Edison report. “It wouldn’t surprise me” if it turns out that winds caused equipment failure that sparked a fire, he said.
The two dead were severely burned, their bodies discovered in a car on a long residential driveway on a stretch of Mulholland Highway in Malibu, where most of the surrounding structures had burned. Authorities said investigators believed the driver became disoriented and the car was overcome by fire.
The deaths came as authorities in Northern California announced the death toll from a massive wildfire there has reached 29 people, matching the deadliest fire in state history.
Santa Ana winds, produced by surface high pressure over the Great Basin squeezing air down through canyons and passes in Southern California’s mountain ranges, are common in autumn and have a long history of fanning destructive wildfires in the region.
A lull Saturday gave firefighters a chance to gain ground but the winds returned Sunday, stoking the fire again.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby stressed there were numerous hot spots and plenty of fuel that had not yet burned, but at sunset he said there had been huge successes despite “a very challenging day.”
The fire’s cause remained under investigation but Southern California Edison reported to the California Public Utilities Commission that there was an outage on an electrical circuit near where it started as Santa Ana winds blew through the region.
SoCal Edison said the report was submitted out of an abundance of caution although there was no indication from fire officials that its equipment may have been involved. The report said the fire was reported around 2:24 p.m. Thursday, two minutes after the outage.
Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen hadn’t heard about the Edison report. “It wouldn’t surprise me” if it turns out that winds caused equipment failure that sparked a fire, he said.
The two dead were severely burned, their bodies discovered in a car on a long residential driveway on a stretch of Mulholland Highway in Malibu, where most of the surrounding structures had burned. Authorities said investigators believed the driver became disoriented and the car was overcome by fire.
The deaths came as authorities in Northern California announced the death toll from a massive wildfire there has reached 29 people, matching the deadliest fire in state history.
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Progress was made on the lines of smaller fire to the west in Ventura County, which was 75 per cent contained at about 18 square kilometres.
Three firefighters suffered minor injuries on the Woolsey fire, Osby said.
Also injured was a well-known member of the Malibu City Council. Councilman Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner was injured while trying to save his home, which burned down, Councilman Skylar Peak told reporters Sunday.
Peak said Wagner was hospitalized but was expected to recover. Wagner runs Zuma Jay Surfboards, a longtime fixture on Pacific Coast Highway near the landmark Malibu Pier.
The extensive celebrity community within Malibu wasn’t spared. Singer Robin Thicke and actor Gerard Butler and were among those whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
Spot fires continued to occur late Sunday afternoon near the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University, where 3,500 students were sheltering in place. The university said it was closing Malibu campus and its Calabasas campus to the north until Nov. 26 but classes would be remotely administered online and through email.
But fire officials say fire behaviour has changed statewide after years of drought and record summer heat that have left vegetation extremely crisp and dry. That change has impacted the ability to move firefighting resources around the state.
“Typically this time of year when we get fires in Southern California we can rely upon our mutual aid partners in Northern California to come assist us because this time of year they’ve already had significant rainfall or even snow,” said Osby, the LA County fire chief.
With the devastation and loss of life in the Northern California fire, “it’s evident from that situation statewide that we’re in climate change and it’s going to be here for the foreseeable future,” he said.
Three firefighters suffered minor injuries on the Woolsey fire, Osby said.
Also injured was a well-known member of the Malibu City Council. Councilman Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner was injured while trying to save his home, which burned down, Councilman Skylar Peak told reporters Sunday.
Peak said Wagner was hospitalized but was expected to recover. Wagner runs Zuma Jay Surfboards, a longtime fixture on Pacific Coast Highway near the landmark Malibu Pier.
The extensive celebrity community within Malibu wasn’t spared. Singer Robin Thicke and actor Gerard Butler and were among those whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
Spot fires continued to occur late Sunday afternoon near the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University, where 3,500 students were sheltering in place. The university said it was closing Malibu campus and its Calabasas campus to the north until Nov. 26 but classes would be remotely administered online and through email.
But fire officials say fire behaviour has changed statewide after years of drought and record summer heat that have left vegetation extremely crisp and dry. That change has impacted the ability to move firefighting resources around the state.
“Typically this time of year when we get fires in Southern California we can rely upon our mutual aid partners in Northern California to come assist us because this time of year they’ve already had significant rainfall or even snow,” said Osby, the LA County fire chief.
With the devastation and loss of life in the Northern California fire, “it’s evident from that situation statewide that we’re in climate change and it’s going to be here for the foreseeable future,” he said.
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