The fires that killed at least 50 people continued Wednesday to devastate California where the authorities were trying to trace the hundreds of people still missing, while the testimony of survivors increased.
Police in Butte County, north of the capital Sacramento, released a list of 104 residents of the area in the morning, whose relatives have no news of Camp Fire, the deadliest fire in the area. the history of this state of the American West with 48 dead.
The vast majority of them are elderly people from the city of Paradise, a city of 26,000 inhabitants who are popular with pensioners and who were almost completely destroyed by the flames.
The fire burned a total of nearly 56,000 hectares, according to a report released Wednesday morning by California firefighters (Cal Fire).
While aid was looking for possible other casualties, at least six people have been arrested since Monday, accused of theft in evacuated housing, according to police Butte County.
On the road to Paradise, the clearing operations continued on Wednesday, while in the city the abandoned vehicles were gradually removed.
Hundreds of miles to the south, near Los Angeles, the Woolsey Fire ravaged nearly 40,000 hectares and killed at least two people. A third body whose death would be "apparently related to the fire" was discovered Wednesday in a burnt house, said the Los Angeles County police.
The fire broke out last week near Thousand Oaks. The fire spread quickly and reached the famous resort town of Malibu, west of Los Angeles.
Donald Trump assured Wednesday the people of California of his support in a message on Twitter, explaining having spoken directly with the Democratic governor Jerry Brown.
On Saturday, however, he provoked a controversy by accusing the state of California of "mismanagement" of forests, while most of them are under the control of the federal state.
Icy lake
Despite the evacuation orders, some residents did not have time to escape the flames. The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper reported how several families, including a 90-year-old man, had to dive into the icy waters of a lake to escape the flames of Camp Fire and find refuge on a small island.
On Saturday, however, he provoked a controversy by accusing the state of California of "mismanagement" of forests, while most of them are under the control of the federal state.
At Paradise, Brad Weldon told AFP how he fought the fire all day and all night "with 20-liter buckets and a pool," unable to evacuate his bedridden mother.
https://twitter.com/afpfr/status/1062839593890832384
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Allyn Pierce did not survive because of a good Samaritan driving a bulldozer. This nurse told the American press that the stranger had cleared the road of abandoned cars to allow him to escape the flames. He chose to return to the hospital where he practices to treat the wounded.
California firefighters have received significant air assistance, but the fire is still ahead and no rain is expected until mid-week, according to weather services.
Local authorities have also issued an air pollution alert due to fumes. The city of Sacramento has distributed surgical masks to residents to protect themselves from stale air, according to the daily Sacramento Bee.
The source of the two fires has not yet been identified, but several victims have launched a lawsuit in San Francisco against local electricity supplier Pacific Gas & Electricity (PG & E).
According to the complaint of lawyer Mike Danko, who represents 20 victims of "Camp Fire", the fire was caused by "sparks" on a high-voltage line of the company.
In a statement, PG & E spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo denied any responsibility for the electricity company.
California has had several major fires over the past year, totaling nearly 100 deaths, and burning hundreds of thousands of hectares. The drought has been raging for several years in this great state of the western United States.