The Camp Fire from Black Butte Lake, November 8, 2018
The death toll in the Camp Fire north of Sacramento is up to 88. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea explained that the number went up because of new forensic information in remains they previously recovered. No new remains were found yesterday. Authorities are making progress in identifying the remains. Over 200 people are still missing. The Camp Fire is now fully contained, but it burned over 153-thousand acres. The fire also scorched over 18-thousand buildings, most of which were homes.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is estimating costs associated with the Camp Fire will likely be in the billions. Zinke was back in the Butte County fire burn zone yesterday, and said he has never seen such devastation. The federal government has distributed over 20-million-dollars in assistance for people displaced by California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire. About 17-thousand people have registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will determine how much assistance they are eligible for.