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US-FIRE-CALIFORNIA-ENVIRONMENT-WEATHER LEAD
California fire death toll rises to 23
PARADISE, United States, Nov 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Firefighters battled
raging blazes at both ends of drought-stricken California on Sunday, with the
death toll rising to at least 23 and strong winds and dry conditions in the
forecast.
The largest fires were in Butte County, a scenic area in the foothills of
the Sierra Nevada mountains north of Sacramento, and in the Los Angeles area,
where two deaths possibly related to a fire were reported.
Acrid smoke from the fire covered the sky for miles, the sun barely
visible. On the ground, cars caught in the flames were reduced to metal
carcasses, while power lines were gnawed by the flames.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said at a late Saturday news conference
that 14 more bodies had been found, bringing the number of fatalities of a
blaze known as the “Camp Fire” to 23.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for more than 52,000 people in the
area.
In the town of Paradise more than 6,700 buildings — including a hospital,
a gas station, and several restaurants — have been consumed by the fire.
Rescuers removed human remains over several hours in Paradise and placed
them in a black hearse. Charred body parts were transported by bucket, while
intact remains were carried in body bags.
At the Holly Hills Mobile Estate the mobile homes had been reduced to
smoldering piles of debris. Yellow police tape marked spots that were tagged
“Doe C” and “Doe D,” suggesting that bodies were found there.
Locals fled the danger, but police told AFP some farmers returned to check
on their cattle.
Fanned by strong winds, the blaze has so far scorched 100,000 acres
(40,500 hectares) and is 20 percent contained, the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. So far, three of the more than
3,200 firefighters deployed have been injured.
They estimate they will need three weeks to fully contain the blaze.
Local power authorities told state officials that an outage occurred near
the spot where the fire erupted, The Sacramento Bee reported, but there is no
official cause of the Camp Fire blaze.
– “No more Fed payments!” –
President Donald Trump, in France for World War I commemorations, drew
criticism for an unsympathetic reaction to the devastation.
“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in
California except that forest management is so poor,” Trump tweeted.
“Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all
because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed
payments!”
Brian Rice, the head of the California Professional Firefighters, slammed
the tweet as “ill-informed, ill-timed and demeaning to those who are
suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines.”
He said the president’s claim that forest policies were mismanaged “is
dangerously wrong.”
Trump later showed more sympathy. “Our hearts are with those fighting the
fires,” as well as the evacuees and families of the victims, he tweeted. “God
Bless them all.”
But then he doubled-down on Sunday, tweeting: “With proper Forest
Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California.
Get Smart!”
– Malibu mansions in flames –
In southern California, more wildfires burned, including one just north of
Los Angeles and another in Ventura County near Thousand Oaks, where a Marine
Corps veteran shot dead 12 people in a country music bar on Wednesday.
Two bodies were found in Malibu — one of the most coveted locations in
California and home to a bevy of Hollywood stars — in an area where the
“Woolsey Fire” swept through, the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department said.
However the incident “is being investigated by the homicide department,” an
LACS spokesperson told AFP.
The Woolsey Fire has consumed around 83,000 acres, destroyed at least 177
structures and was five percent contained, Cal Fire said late Saturday.
Evacuation orders had been issued for some 88,000 homes in Ventura County and
neighboring Los Angeles County.
The wildfire reached Paramount Ranch, destroying the Western Town sets
used for hundreds of productions including HBO’S sci-fi western “Westworld,”
network officials said.
Keegan Gibbs, 33, was crushed to find that his Malibu childhood home had
been consumed by flames.
“Malibu is a really small community and gets a bad rap for being this kind
of elitist, snobby place, and it’s exactly the opposite,” Gibbs told the Los
Angeles Times.
Firefighters got a respite from the strong winds on Saturday, and Los
Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said aircraft were deployed to drop fire
retardants to strengthen the fire lines.
Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen however had a warning: “Don’t be
lulled by a false sense of security.”
Winds of between 50 and 60 miles per hour were expected through Tuesday
across the region, strong enough to quickly spread flames in unexpected
directions, officials said.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1730 hrs