California fire death toll hits 71
Up to 71 persons were killed from a Northern California
wildfire with more than 1,000 reported missing in the nation's deadliest
wildfire in a century, said Sky News.
The high number of missing people probably includes some who
fled the blaze and don't realize they've been reported missing, Butte County
Sheriff Kory Honea said. He said he's making the list public so people can see
if they are on it and let authorities know they survived.
"The chaos that we were dealing with was
extraordinary," Honea said of the early crisis hours last week. "Now
we're trying to go back out and make sure that we're accounting for
everyone."
Some 52,000 people have been
displaced to shelters, the homes of friends and relatives, to motels - and to a
Walmart parking lot and an adjacent field in Chico, a dozen miles away from the
ashes.
