Rescue workers are searching for more than 630 people reported missing in a northern California town reduced to ashes by the deadliest wildfire in the state’s history.
At least 63 people have been killed in and around Paradise by the Camp fire that erupted a week ago in the Sierra foothills 175 miles (280km) north of San Francisco. The fire is among the most lethal US wildfires since 2000.
The remains were found outdoors and in the rubble of homes and cars in the towns of Paradise, Magalia and Concow. One victim was found in a overturned charred car in Paradise.
Authorities attribute the death toll in part to the speed with which flames raced through the town of 27,000, driven by wind and fueled by desiccated scrub and trees.
Nearly 12,000 homes and buildings burned hours after the blaze erupted, the California department of forestry and fire protection (Cal Fire) said. The fire left a ghostly expanse of empty lots covered in ash and strewn with debris.
Thousands of additional structures are still threatened as firefighters, many from distant states, labored to contain and suppress the flames.
The revised list of 631 missing people is up from 297 listed on Thursday by the Butte county sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Kory Honea on Thursday said the remains of seven victims have been located since Wednesday’s tally of 56. Nearly 300 people reported missing have been found alive and the list of missing would fluctuate, he said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fema, is in the area to aid the more than 52,000 forced to evacuate because of the fire.
The fire grew to 140,000 acres, or 219 sq miles, on Thursday as crews managed to push containment up to 40%. Authorities were able to lift evacuation orders in some areas near Chico and Forest Ranch.
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