California鈥檚 deadliest, most destructive wildfire fully contained
More than two weeks after California鈥檚 deadliest wildfire ignited in Butte County, firefighters have officially harnessed the Camp Fire, announcing Sunday that the blaze was at last 100 percent contained.
The milestone comes after protracted horror for the town of Paradise and surrounding areas and amid news of tragedy that will long outlive the flames.
Within days of the Camp Fire erupting on Nov. 8, the monster inferno eclipsed state records as the most deadly and destructive wildfire.
The fire has killed at least 85 people, and that number is expected to rise as crews continue to comb through scorched retirement communities for remains.
By Sunday, 249 people remained missing and about 2,500 of those once reported missing had been accounted for, according to Butte County officials.
The Camp Fire leveled 13,972 residences by the time of containment at 153,336 acres.
California鈥檚 second deadliest wildfire, the Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles County in 1933, killed 29 people.
Rain that drenched Northern California on Wednesday slowed the spread of the blaze and helped firefighters gain an edge. This sped up containment considerably, said Brigitte Foster, fire prevention officer for the Lassen National Forest and spokeswoman for the Camp Fire efforts.
As recently as last week, crews didn鈥檛 expect to reach 100 percent containment until Nov. 30, but by early Sunday, firefighters established lines in the remaining remote areas, northwest of Brush Creek.
Crews will continue mopping up affected areas, starting from 50 to 100 feet from the containment line. They鈥檒l mostly be checking for smoldering roots and stumps, which can burn internally. Crews will use tools to dig around the stump, break it open and manually pack in dirt and water until it鈥檚 cooled.
Once the borders of the burn area are under control, crews will continue working their way inward. With a blaze the size of the Camp Fire, 鈥淭hat can take several months in order to call a fire out,鈥� Foster said.
Fears of mudslides and debris flows in burn scar areas had mostly dissipated by Sunday, at least for the foreseeable future. None was reported in Paradise or neighboring Magalia after last week鈥檚 showers, and rain forecast for this week isn鈥檛 expected to cause much damage, either.
鈥淓ven though the rain occurred over a long enough time (last week), it was steady enough that it did not cause any immediate impact,鈥� said Hannah Chandler-Cooley, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. 鈥淭he main concern with debris flows is when you get a large amount of rain in a very short amount of time.鈥�
Paradise received 3.22 inches of rain last week, Concow had close to 5 inches and Magalia recorded 5.41 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
Butte County began consolidating its shelters late last week, transitioning the remaining evacuees to shelters at the Glenn County Fairgrounds in Orland or the Butte County Fairgrounds in Gridley. As of Saturday night, 350 people were still sleeping at the four remaining Red Cross shelters, said American Red Cross spokesman Stephen Walsh.
There鈥檚 no hard deadline for people to leave the shelters, but they are designed as a temporary solution, and Red Cross volunteers are working to pair evacuees with agencies that can secure more long-term aid.
鈥淚 have heard personally of stories from people who said, 鈥業 didn鈥檛 have any insurance, so what I lost in the fire, I lost it, it鈥檚 gone,鈥欌� Walsh said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 one of our many roles, is at least trying to get them to tell us what (they) need, and then trying to connect them with the right resources.鈥�
Walsh said he鈥檚 never witnessed a tragedy with as many people unaccounted for. The list of missing people has fluctuated since the beginning of the fire, peaking at more than 1,200. Many of the Paradise and Magalia residents were elderly or disabled, and with the area鈥檚 spotty cellphone service, many relied solely on landlines.
鈥淚 was getting anywhere from a half-dozen to a dozen phone calls each day the first week from people saying, 鈥業 can鈥檛 find somebody.鈥� ... I鈥檝e never seen that,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o that was chilling, for sure.鈥�