At least 42 people died in a fire that turned the city of Paradise in northern California into hell on earth, making it the deadliest blaze in the state's history. said Monday evening the authorities."So far, the remains of 13 new people have been found, bringing the total number of deaths to 42," said Butte County Sheriff to which the city of Paradise, Kory Honea, reports.
"This is the deadliest forest fire in the history of the state," he added at a press conference.
The most deadly fire in California's history was that of Griffith Park in Los Angeles, which killed 29 people in 1933.
In Paradise, the dead were found in burning cars, in the burning ruins of their homes or beside their vehicles, apparently overrun with smoke and flames before they could jump behind the wheel and escape. In some cases, there were only charred bone fragments, according to the authorities.
Fire crews were still battling the fire, facing wind gusts of up to 64 km / h at night. The flames rose more than 300 feet on Lake Oroville. The fire spread over an area of 303 square kilometers and was controlled to 25%, authorities said.
According to the sheriff's estimates, hundreds of people are missing four days after the outbreak of the fire that swept the city of 27,000 inhabitants and has virtually erased the map with such violent flames that the authorities have made call to a mobile DNA lab and forensic anthropologists to identify the dead.The fire is one of a series of wildfires on both sides of the state, resulting in 44 deaths, including two in Malibu, a popular southern California resort, where firefighters appeared to be gaining money. land facing a fire of about 370 km2 that destroyed at least 370 buildings and threatens hundreds of others
