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Charred
wheelchair
and
downed
power
lines
sit
roadside
during
Camp
Fire in
Butte
County,
Calif..
on
Thursday,
November
8, 2018.
(Photo:
Scott
Strazzante/The
SF
Chronicle) |
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Death
toll
rises to
76
nearly
1,300
missing
in
California
fire
with
high
winds
ahead
By
SUDHIN
THANAWALA
and
TERENCE
CHEA
CHICO,
Calif. -
Northern
California
crews
battling
the
country’s
deadliest
wildfire
in a
century
were
bracing
for
strong
winds,
with
gusts up
to 50
miles
per
hour,
creating
the
potential
to erode
gains
they
have
made in
containing
a
disaster
that has
killed
at least
76 and
leveled
a town.
Even
as
hundreds
of
searchers
sift
through
the
rubble
in the
town of
Paradise
looking
for the
dead,
nearly
1,300
people
remain
unaccounted
for more
than a
week
after
the fire
sparked
in Butte
County,
Sheriff
Kory
Honea
announced
Saturday
night.
Authorities
stressed
that the
long
roster
does not
mean
they
believe
all
those
people
are
missing.
Honea
pleaded
with
fire
evacuees
Saturday
to
review
the list
of those
reported
as
unreachable
by
family
and
friends
and call
if they
are
safe.
Deputies
have
located
hundreds
of
people
to date,
but the
overall
number
keeps
growing
because
they are
adding
more
names,
including
those
from the
disaster’s
chaotic
early
hours,
Honea
said.
Destroyed
cars on
Pearson
Road
after
the Camp
Fire
tore
through
Paradise,
Calif.
on
Saturday,
Nov. 10,
2018.
(Photo:
Gabrielle
Lurie/Staff)
“It’s
really
very
important
for you
to take
a look
at the
list and
call us
if
you’re
on the
list,”
he said.
The
remains
of five
more
people
were
found
Saturday,
including
four in
the
decimated
town of
Paradise
and one
in
nearby
Concow,
bringing
the
number
of dead
to 76.
Honea
said
among
the dead
was
Lolene
Rios,
56,
whose
son Jed
tearfully
told
KXTV in
Sacramento
that his
mother
“had
endless
amount
of love
for me.”
President
Donald
Trump
toured
the area
Saturday,
joined
by
California’s
outgoing
and
incoming
governors,
both
Democrats
who have
traded
sharp
barbs
with the
Republican
administration.
He also
visited
Southern
California,
where
firefighters
were
making
progress
on a
wildfire
that
tore
through
communities
west of
Los
Angeles
from
Thousand
Oaks to
Malibu,
killing
three
people.
The
president
pledged
the full
support
of the
federal
government.
Gov.
Jerry
Brown
and
Gov.-elect
Gavin
Newsom
thanked
him for
coming
out.
Residents
wave to
the
motorcade
during
President
Donald
Trump's
visit of
the Camp
Fire in
Chico,
Calif.,
on
Saturday,
Nov. 17,
2018.
(Paul
Kitagaki
Jr./The
Sacramento
Bee via
AP,
Pool)
“We’ve
never
seen
anything
like
this in
California,
we’ve
never
seen
anything
like
this
yet.
It’s
like
total
devastation,”
Trump
said as
he stood
amid the
ruins of
Paradise.
Rain
was
forecast
for
midweek,
which
could
help
firefighters
but also
complicate
the
search
for
remains.
Northern
California’s
Camp
Fire has
destroyed
nearly
10,000
homes
and
torched
233
square
miles
(603
square
kilometers).
It is 55
percent
contained.
The
fire
zone in
Northern
California
is to
some
extent
Trump
country,
and that
enthusiasm
was on
display
as
dozens
of
people
cheered
and
waved
flags as
his
motorcade
went by.
Kevin
Cory, a
wildfire
evacuee
who lost
his home
in
Paradise,
praised
Trump
for
coming
to a
state
that is
often at
odds
with the
White
House.
“I
think
that
California’s
been
really
horrible
to him
and the
fights.
I mean
they’re
suing
him,” he
said.
“It’s
back and
forth
between
the
state
and the
feds.
It’s not
right.”
Troy
Miller
who
survived
the Camp
Fire in
what he
called a
"miraculous
act of
God"
recounts
his
experience
of
making
it
through
the fire
on
Concow
Road in
Concow,
California,
on
Tuesday,
Nov. 13,
2018.
(Photo:
Gabrielle
Lurie/The
SF
Chronicle)
But
for the
most
part,
survivors,
some who
had
barely
escaped
and no
longer
had
homes,
were too
busy
packing
up what
little
they had
left or
seeking
help to
pay much
attention
to the
president’s
visit.
Michelle
Mack
Couch,
49,
waited
in line
to get
into a
Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency
center
in the
city of
Chico.
She
needed a
walker
for her
elderly
mother
and tags
for her
car.
“Let’s
hope he
gets us
some
help,”
said
Couch,
who
voted
for
Trump
and
whose
rental
home
burned
down
last
week.
But as
far as
taking
time out
to watch
the
president,
she said
wryly,
“We
don’t
have a
TV
anymore.”
Honea
expressed
hope
that
Trump’s
visit
would
help
with
recovery,
saying
the tour
by the
Republican
president
and
California’s
Democratic
leaders
“signals
a spirit
of
cooperation
here
that
ultimately
benefit
this
community
and get
us on a
path
toward
recovery.”
In
Southern
California,
Trump
also met
briefly
at an
airport
hangar
with
families
and
first
responders
touched
by the
shooting
at the
Borderline
Bar &
Grill in
Thousand
Oaks
more
than a
week
ago.
Trump
called
the
shooting
at a
country
music
bar,
which
left 12
dead, “a
horrible,
horrible
event.”
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