More than 600 still missing in Camp Fire as death toll rises

Update: Death toll count at 63. The missing persons list has jumped to 631.

As the death toll rises in the continuing Butte County Camp Fire, search teams are still seeking the whereabouts of more than 100 missing persons.

Cal Fire reported Wednesday night that investigators and fire crews have uncovered 56 civilian casualties, updating the count after discovering eight additional bodies during the day.

The list of still-missing persons circulated by the Butte County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday stands at 103, ranging in ages from 21 to 95.

The sheriff identifies most of the missing as residents of Paradise, the city most devastated by the fire, although people from nearby Magalia, Chico, Oroville Concow, Butte Meadows, and Fort Bragg remain unaccounted for as well.

People who know the whereabouts of any person on this list, please contact the Butte County Sheriff’s Office Mission Persons Center at one of these numbers:

• 530-538-6570
• 530-538-7544
• 530-538-7671

Reuters reports that National Guard personnel are assisting with the search for dead and missing persons in the wake of the fire. Governor Jerry Brown, who visited affected communities on Wednesday, likened the aftermath of the fire to “a war zone.”

The Camp Fire has nearly doubled the fatality count of the 1933 Griffith Park disaster in Los Angeles, which previously held the record as California’s deadliest wildfire with 29 dead.

The state tallies more than 10,000 structures were destroyed in the blaze that began last Thursday; more than 1,300 of those are classified as “minor structures.”

The number of residences destroyed rose to 8,650.

• Camp Fire Incident Report [Cal Fire]
• Missing Persons [Butte County]
• Camp Fire Death Toll Rises [Curbed SF]
• National Guard To Search [Reuters]