Camp Fire Death Toll Now at 71 as Over 1,000 Remain Missing

The Butte County Sheriff’s office confirmed they recovered the remains of eight more people in the Camp Fire rubble on Friday, growing the death toll to 71 people. Officials are now beginning to accurately determine the list of missing people, which grew to over 1,000 people today.

Although the list of missing persons grew significantly, the Sheriff’s office reiterated that it doesn’t mean they’re all actually missing.

BREAKING: Northern California sheriff says more than 1,000 now unaccounted for after fire, list being constantly updated.

— The Associated Press (@AP) November 17, 2018

The grim statistics continued to pile up on the deadliest and most destructive fire in California’s history. Over 12,000 structures have burned to the ground as the fire grew to 146,000 acres with 50 percent containment.

Not only has the fire broken most of the California fire records, it’s nearly doubling its predecessors. The Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles in 1933 killed 29 people. The Camp Fire has more than doubled that. Napa’s Tubbs Fire destroyed 5,636 structures last year. The Camp Fire has more than doubled that.

Meanwhile, residents of Northern California continue to choke on the massive plume of smoke caused by the fire. From the Bay Area to the Oregon border, hazardous air conditions are causing events to be cancelled, schools to close and thousands flocking to find face masks to protect themselves from the air.

As thousands of displaced families continue to live in evacuation centers and makeshift refugee camps in Wal Mart parking lots, the evacuation zone has taken the sad life of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Recovery efforts continue to look for victims while looters have taken to the area, with 53 reports of looting in Paradise.

President Donald Trump has made plans to come to Northern California to visit the survivors of the Camp Fire. The president will “meet with individuals impacted by the wildfires,” the White House said in a statement Thursday afternoon. Trump will land at Beale Air Force Base near Yuba City, but no other details about his trip have been announced.