A home stands strong as the Camp Fire tears through Paradise in California.
Camera IconA home stands strong as the Camp Fire tears through Paradise in California. Credit: AP

National Guard troops are searching for dead and missing in the California bushfires

Staff writers and wiresNews Corp Australia Network

At least 63 are now dead from a Northern California wildfire, and officials say they have a missing persons list with 631 names on it in an ever-evolving accounting of the missing after the nation’s deadliest wildfire in a century.

The high number of missing people probably includes some who fled the blaze and didn’t realise they had been reported missing, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said.

He added that he was making the list public so people could see if they were on it and let authorities know they were safe.

Rescue workers search for human remains at a home that was burned by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California.
Camera IconRescue workers search for human remains at a home that was burned by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Credit: AFP, AFP/Getty

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News reporters stand in an area burned by a wildfire, in Paradise, California.
Camera IconNews reporters stand in an area burned by a wildfire, in Paradise, California. Credit: AP
Deer walk past a destroyed home on Orrin Lane after the wildfire burned through Paradise, California.
Camera IconDeer walk past a destroyed home on Orrin Lane after the wildfire burned through Paradise, California. Credit: AP

“The chaos that we were dealing with was extraordinary,” Honea said of the early crisis hours last week.

“Now we’re trying to go back out and make sure that we’re accounting for everyone.”

Some 52,000 people were displaced to shelters, the homes of friends and relatives, to motels — and to a Walmart parking lot and an adjacent field in Chico, a dozen miles away from the ashes.

Figurines on the roof of a car that was destroyed by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California.
Camera IconFigurines on the roof of a car that was destroyed by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Credit: AFP
Ducks are seen on the Malibu Lake while a structure burns in Malibu, California.
Camera IconDucks are seen on the Malibu Lake while a structure burns in Malibu, California. Credit: AP
An air tanker drops flame retardant to protect homes over the Calabasas section of Los Angeles.
Camera IconAn air tanker drops flame retardant to protect homes over the Calabasas section of Los Angeles. Credit: AP

California authorities have collected DNA samples to help identify victims of the state’s deadliest-ever wildfire, as President Donald Trump said he plans to visit the region at the weekend.

The White House said Trump, who has blamed the fires on “gross mismanagement of the forest,” would travel to California on Saturday to meet with victims and review the damage.

Images of Paradise California before the November 2018 fires.
Camera IconImages of Paradise California before the November 2018 fires. Credit: Supplied, Google Maps

Sheriff Honea said 461 search and rescue personnel and 22 “cadaver dogs” were involved in the effort to locate the missing and DNA testing was being expedited to identify victims.

He 56 fatalities have been tentatively identified so far using “rapid DNA” techniques.

“Beginning Thursday, anyone who believes a family member perished can provide a DNA sample,” Honea said.

Paradise, a town of around 26,000 in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, was popular with retirees and many of those reported missing by the sheriff’s office are in their 70s, 80s and 90s.

Virtually every home in Paradise, located 130km north of the state capital Sacramento, was destroyed by the fire, which was driven by high winds.

Body recovery teams are conducting a painstaking search of burnt-out homes for human remains in the town and closely examining the many charred cars littering the roads.

This is all that was left of a house ripped apart by the Woolsey Fire.
Camera IconThis is all that was left of a house ripped apart by the Woolsey Fire. Credit: AFP

A “WAR ZONE”

The California fire department said that the Camp Fire has destroyed 56,655 hectares and was 40 per cent contained.

It said nearly 5500 firefighters were battling the blaze and it did not expect it to be fully contained for another two weeks.

The Camp Fire has destroyed more than 8650 single family homes and 260 commercial buildings, Cal Fire said.

The Woolsey Fire has razed 39,660 hectares and has been 57 per cent contained. It is expected to be fully contained by Monday.

Authorities said cooler temperatures and calmer winds had brought welcome relief to fire crews.

The destruction on the Santa Monica Mountains.
Camera IconThe destruction on the Santa Monica Mountains. Credit: AFP

A number of celebrities have lost their homes in Malibu as a result of the Woolsey inferno, including Pierce Brosnan, Miley Cyrus, Neil Young, Robin Thicke, Shannen Doherty and Gerard Butler.

California Governor Jerry Brown, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Brock Long, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), toured the damage in Paradise on Wednesday.

“This is so devastating that I don’t really have the words to describe it,” Brown told a press conference.

“It looks like a war zone.”

Long said Paradise was looking at a “total rebuild,” with most homes, businesses and infrastructure destroyed.

A firefighting helicopter flies through the smoke in Calabasas.
Camera IconA firefighting helicopter flies through the smoke in Calabasas. Credit: AFP

“This is going to be a very long and frustrating event for the citizens of Paradise,” Long said. “We’re going to have to find a new normal.

“You’re not going to be able to rebuild Paradise the way it was.”

Authorities said it was unclear when residents would be allowed back into the town.

While the cause of the Camp Fire is still under investigation, a lawsuit has been filed against the local power company, PG&E, by fire victims claiming negligence by the utility.

The complaint alleged that the fire began on November 8 when a high voltage transmission line failed, igniting tinder-dry vegetation.

The utility was found to be responsible for several devastating fires in northern California last fall that killed at least 15 people, and it faces billions of dollars in liability for the latest wildfires.

CELEBRITY HOMES DESTROYED

Former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan returned to his Malibu beach house to find his neighbourhood destroyed by fires.

Brosnan had earlier appeared in front of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to ask that aid be provided to the area.

“The lives of many families friends and neighbours have been turned to ash. Many cannot be with us today because they are fighting to protect their property and homes and they simply cannot get out as they fight to survive without water, electricity, food, gas and, in some cases, shelter,” Brosnan said.

“We call on you this day, we beseech you to do everything in your power to save our community.

“My wife and I are here today speaking on behalf of our friends, mothers, children to give a voice to their pain.”

Pierce Brosnan, right, with his wife Keely Shaye Smith.
Camera IconPierce Brosnan, right, with his wife Keely Shaye Smith. Credit: Getty Images, Getty
Chris Martin.
Camera IconChris Martin. Credit: Getty Images

Coldplay singer Chris Martin said it wasn’t just celebrities who had been affected by the deadly fires.

“I’m here just to reassure everybody that we as a community are going to do our utmost to help ourselves, but there is sometimes an image of Malibu that people like me are there more than other people, and there’s a lot of people who need help from outside from you,” Martin said.

Cal Fire said more than 3500 fire personnel were battling the Woolsey Fire.

Liam Hemsworth posted a photo to his Instagram account showing the charred remains of his and Cyrus’s living room but with the fitting message that he was sending love to the Malibu community.

At the opposite end of the state, more than 8900 homes and other buildings burned to the ground in and around Paradise in Northern California, and an estimated 50,000 people remained under evacuation orders in the area.

Adding to the misery of some survivors was an outbreak of norovirus, a highly contagious gastrointestinal illness, at a shelter housing about 200 evacuees in the nearby city of Chico.

Public health agency spokeswoman Lisa Almaguer said at least 20 people may have caught the virus.

The six-day-old fire grew to 55,000 hectares as of Wednesday, even as diminished winds and rising humidity helped firefighters shore up containment lines.

Still, the ghostly expanse of empty lots covered in ash and strewn with twisted wreckage and debris made a strong impression on California Governor Jerry Brown, US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and other officials who toured the devastation.

(from left) California Gov. Jerry Brown, FEMA Director Brock Long, US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, Scott Upton, forestry and fire protection chief, survey the damage.
Camera Icon(from left) California Gov. Jerry Brown, FEMA Director Brock Long, US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, Scott Upton, forestry and fire protection chief, survey the damage. Credit: AP
A search and rescue worker, looking for Camp Fire victims, carries Susie Q. to safety after the cadaver dog fell through rubble in Paradise, Calif.
Camera IconA search and rescue worker, looking for Camp Fire victims, carries Susie Q. to safety after the cadaver dog fell through rubble in Paradise, Calif. Credit: AP

While the cause of the “Camp Fire” is still under investigation, a lawsuit has been filed against the local power company, PG & E, by fire victims claiming negligence by the utility.

The complaint alleged that the fire began on November 8 when a high voltage transmission line failed, igniting a vegetation fire.

TALES OF BRAVERY AND SURVIVAL

As thousands of firefighters fought the fires, incredible tales have emerged of courage and survival.

A man who asked to be identified by only his first name, Scott, told the San Francisco Chronicle that when the Camp Fire surrounded his home in Concow in Butte County he and his family plunged into a reservoir along with a 90-year-old neighbour, Bruno.

“Bruno was saying, ‘Just leave me. I can’t do this,’” Scott, 51, told the newspaper.

“I said, ‘Bruno, we’re not going to leave you. And I’m not going to burn, so you better hurry’,”.

They remained in the cold water as flames licked the shore and made their way to a small island in the reservoir after finding a pair of rowboats.

Allyn Pierce, a nurse in Paradise, told The New York Times and CNN how his life was saved by a bulldozer driver as he fled the town in his pick-up truck along with other residents on Thursday.

Mr Pierce said cars were catching fire around him and he dictated a goodbye message to his family, expecting his vehicle to catch fire next.

“I stayed calm but I was terrified,” Mr Pierce said.

“Then all of a sudden this bulldozer comes out of nowhere and knocks this burning truck out of the way,” he said.

Instead of fleeing to safety, however, Mr Pierce turned around and went back to the Adventist Health Feather River Hospital, where he works as an intensive care nurse, and helped evacuate patients to the hospital’s helipad.