Eight more bodies bring California wildfire death toll to 71, with 1,000+ people missing

Fire officials said Friday that eight more bodies have been found in the wildfire wreckage that's destroyed 142,000 acres in Northern California, and over 1,000 people are now listed as missing.

It will take two more weeks to fully contain the devastating Camp Fire that has killed scores of people, firefighters said, although a forecast of rain next week could offer some relief.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to be in California on Saturday to see the wildfire damage and meet with victims. He's likely to face some resentment from locals for blaming the inferno on poor forest management in California.

In an interview taped Friday and scheduled for broadcast on “Fox News Sunday,” Trump said he was surprised to see images of firefighters removing dried brush near a fire, adding, “This should have been all raked out.”

A list of those still missing — who may not have escaped the fire's deadly wrath — has grown to over 1,000 people. Officials caution, however, that it likely includes people who simply have not checked in with authorities.

Butte CountySheriff Kory Honea said the list was dynamic and could easily contain duplicate names and unreliable spellings of names.

He said the roster probably includes some who fled the blaze and do not realize they’ve been reported missing.

Some on the list have been confirmed as dead by family and friends on social media. Others have been located and are safe, but authorities haven’t gotten around to marking them as found.

In last year’s catastrophic wildfires in California wine country, Sonoma County authorities at one point listed more than 2,000 people as missing. But they slowly whittled down the number. In the end, 44 people died in several counties.

Teams of coroner's experts, anthropologists and others are needed to tell the difference between human remains and animal remains, Honea said. 

Of the eight new sets of human remains found Friday, seven were found in Paradise, California, all inside buildings. Another was found in a structure in a nearby community.

The Camp Fire, which began Nov. 8 and incinerated the retirement community of Paradise, forced the evacuation of more than 50,000 people and has destroyed nearly 12,000 structures, including 9,700 single-family homes. 

Still a raging inferno, the fire is 45 percent contained, growing overnight by 1,000 acres, according to CalFire.

Firefighters said it was not expected to be fully contained until Nov. 30. 

Forecasters, however, predicted a break in the weather next week that could speed up the schedule, although rain could also complicate the efforts of dozens of teams who are sifting through ash and debris, looking for human remains.

The National Weather Service said Friday that the area around the town of Paradise is expected to get rain starting Tuesday night of Wednesday and continue at least through Thanksgiving.

The Camp fire, which broke out in Butte County, continues to threaten 15,500 structures. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

More: Donald Trump to travel to California to meet with wildfire victims

More: Wildfire smoke brings world's worst air quality to Northern California

More: Inside the meticulous work of fire investigations: 'It’s not like CSI on TV'

On Friday, dozens of burned-out cars and SUVs lined the main road out of Paradise known simply as Skyway, stripped down to their bare metal by flames that melted aluminum engine blocks, vaporized plastic door handles and exploded their windows.

A small army of firefighters and emergency workers picked their way through the debris, small fires burning in trees and in the ruins of houses. Power lines littered the streets, and heavy smoke blocked out the sun.

Looking back up the mountain to where Paradise sits, Mary Etter, 54, wondered if she would ever get to go back.

For so long, she said, Paradise was the perfect place to live. Not too hot, not too cold. Not burdened with big city problems, but big enough for people to find jobs and make a living in a town where housing costs were still low. Etter, a home-health aid, helped evacuate her longtime neighbors from their mobile home park, which she believed has been utterly destroyed.

“I’m happy to be here, happy to be here and alive,” she said. “The material things, we can replace those. They’ll be replaced. You can’t replace your life or your friends.”

In Southern California, the Woolsey Fire, which has destroyed 98,000 acres west of Los Angeles and in Malibu, was 69 percent contained.

The nearby Hill Fire that has destroyed 4,500 acres, in Ventura County, west of Los Angeles, was declared fully contained. Officials said they have ruled out any cause of the blaze other than human activity. 

Meanwhile, the National Interagency Fire Center said the estimated cost to suppress the fire so far has reached $46.3 million.

More than 5,590 firefighters are assigned to the blaze, including 622 fire engines, 75 water tenders, 24 helicopters, 101 hand crews and 103 bulldozers, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Sorce usatoday