Camp Fire latest: 71 now dead; more than 1,000 missing

Nov. 17 (UPI) — At least 71 people are now confirmed dead in northern California’s Camp Fire, the Butte County Fire Department said.

The department tallied the fire’s damage in a news release late Friday. The fire was responsible for at least 71 civilian deaths, three firefighter injuries and the destruction of more than 9,800 residences, it said.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office has published a list of 630 missing individuals. The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN each reported the number of people missing has topped 1,000.

Eight people were recently found dead inside structures in Paradise, Calif., and another was found dead inside a structure in Magalia, a news release from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office said.

The largest and deadliest fire in state history, the Camp Fire has grown to 146,000 acres since it was started on Nov. 8, the fire department said. The cause is under investigation.

Authorities hope to reach full containment of the blaze by Nov. 30. As of Friday, more than 5,600 fire personnel had worked to get the blaze 50 percent contained, according to a Cal Fire update.

Air quality has suffered as the fire continues to burn. At 5 p.m. local time Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency said San Francisco’s air quality was at 158 on the air quality index, considered unhealthy, while other parts of the Bay Area had index readings considered very unhealthy.

The index readings peaked at 245 in San Francisco on Thursday, making it the worst air quality in the city’s recorded history, the Chronicle reported.