Los Angeles - Forest fires that hit California in the eastern United States have left at least five people dead, several injured and hundreds of thousands of residents being evacuated from their homes, local officials said yesterday. The biggest focus of the flames is located north of Sacramento, in Buttle County, where the Camp Fire fire destroyed 280 square miles and evacuation orders were issued. Estimates are that more than 200,000 people were expelled by fire.
Two other fires were recorded farther south in Ventura County, near Los Angeles, adding up to 56 square kilometers affected. "The magnitude of the destruction we saw is incredible and painful," said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the state government's emergency office. "We know there are injuries and loss of human lives."
Buttle's sheriff's office reported that his officers "located five dead in the Edgewood Lane area in Paradise," one of the most affected locations. The city of 23,000 inhabitants was practically consumed by the flames. "The preliminary investigation revealed that these victims were located in vehicles hit by the Camp Fire," the government statement said.
Because of the burns, the identification of the bodies could not be made. Necropsies will be performed to determine the circumstances of the deaths and begin the identification process. A team investigates the possibility of more fatalities. A photographer at the AFP news agency discovered the level of destruction in Paradise and summed up the scene he saw in hell: houses in flames, others made ash and charred cars.
The director of the government's emergency office, Mark Ghilarducci, warned that 52,000 people were evacuated in that area, while in Ventura the number of evacuees exceeds 100,000. He said the state expects fire-friendly weather conditions - strong winds and a very dry climate - for the next few days, bad news for the nearly 2,000 firefighters who fight the flames.
Only 5% of Camp Fire was controlled, having destroyed 2,000 structures and the fire threatens a total of 15,000. Roads are closed and evacuation orders were issued in a dozen neighborhoods in the city of Paradise, one of the most affected, and Chico. Three shelters were opened to meet the affected.
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"The entire bottom of Paradise is totally engulfed in flames," Kevin Winstead, a resident of Magalia, told a local television network. "Everything is in flames now, there will be no standing house," he said. "I'm devastated." The other outbreak of fire developed a few miles from Thousand Oaks, where a former soldier opened fire in a bar Wednesday night, leaving 12 dead, before committing suicide.
California has been affected since the end of 2017 by a large number of especially violent fires, which have resulted in a dozen deaths.
